by Bob Tuzik, January, 2008 The wheel/rail interface must be managed in order to increase the life of rail and rolling stock components and to reduce in-service failures. This was one of the primary messages delivered at the Association of American Railroads/Transportation Technology Center, Inc.’s 14th Annual Research Review. The research …
By Jeff Tuzik • October, 2008 Part 1 of this article examined efforts to optimize vehicle and track component performance through various testing, monitoring and simulation programs. Part 2 continues on the theme of “data to information,” further exploring such programs and the operational benefits they engender. Maintaining a Safe Neutral Temperature (SFT) on …
By Bob Tuzik • July, 2008 As research into wheel/rail interaction has evolved, the emphasis has moved toward implementation of available technology and conversion of data into information. Such was the case at Wheel/Rail Interaction ’08, the 14th annual seminar produced by Advanced Rail Management and sponsored by Progressive Railroading magazine. Railroaders, researchers …
By Bob Tuzik • July, 2008 Any examination of the systems in use to measure and monitor wheel/rail interaction requires a discussion of the challenges associated with implementing new and emerging technology. Several industry practitioners participated in such a discussion at Advanced Rail Management and Progressive Railroading magazine’s Wheel/Rail Interaction ’08, the 14th …
By Bob Tuzik • January, 2008 All railways must deal with operating/engineering and vehicle/track interaction issues. But rail transit systems, which operate under the microscope of the urban environment, face special, often unique, challenges. Speakers at Rail Transit ’07, Advanced Rail Management and Interface Journal’s third seminar devoted to wheel/rail interaction on rail …
By Gary P. Wolf • July, 2007 Much has been written and said about the need to optimize the interface between the wheel and rail, but with the growth of heavy axle load traffic, the mandate for optimum performance is greater than ever. Balancing the wheel/rail equation and optimizing interaction can …
By Bob Tuzik • July, 2007 You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again. Delegates to the 13th Annual Wheel/Rail Interaction Seminar presented by Interface Journaland Advanced Rail Management heard it time and again over the course of the seminar: The wheel/rail interface is a system. And when there are problems, as …
by Bob Tuzik • April 10, 2005 Rail Grinding has been used to solve a host of problems on transit systems. It recently was used in Boston to remove a new wrinkle. A specialized grinding program was initiated in 2002 on the heels of a series of light-rail derailments on the …
by Bob Tuzik, December 1, 2004 Investigations have shown that wheel-flange/gauge-face angle and the coefficient of friction (COF) play significant roles in contributing to or preventing flange-climb derailments. Investigations have also shown that Light Rail Vehicles with Independently Rotating Wheels (IRWs) have a greater propensity for flange-climb derailment than vehicles with conventional …
By Bob Tuzik • November 4, 2004 If the first unwritten rule in optimizing the wheel/rail interface on rail transit is: Know your system; the second rule should be: Recognize that the w/r interface is a system. “No single department can attack the issues in isolation and expect to get very far,” Joseph Oriolo, Senior …