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Technical Reports

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Effects of Rail Profile Variation

Railroads in various countries including the United States have found that benefits may be obtained by grinding rails to an 'asymmetric' profile rather than to the original 'new' rail profile. To investigate these findings further, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of...

Performance of Degraded Roller Bearings

Concerns over railroad bearing failure prompted a test to be conducted to measure the rate at which degraded bearings overheat under service conditions. A test consist which included a locomotive, a data collection car and four test cars containing 24 subject bearings was utilized. The bearings...

Statistical Representations of Track Geometry Volume I- Text

Mathematical representations of railroad track geometry variations are derived from time series analyses of track measurements. Since the majority of track is free of anomalies (turnouts, crossings, bridges, etc.), representation of anomaly-free track is first considered. Anomalies are then...

Railroad Passenger Ride Safety

Safety requirements for high cant deficiency rail passenger service address the dangers of vehicle derailment, track damage and unreasonable risks to standing passengers of falling. Safety criteria concerning vehicle derailment and track damage have been well developed. Those applicable to...

Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Test of LCC Launch Car, EMS-2

Tests were performed on the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Launch Control Car(LCC), EMS-2 according to specifications in Chapter XI of the AAR's, Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices. The tests included vehicle characterization, service worthiness, and track worthiness. These tests address...

Analytical Methods for Freight Car/Truck Dynamic Problems

The analytical methods used to synthesize mathematical models of an 80-ton open hopper railroad car are presented in this report. The work described herein was performed as part of the Track-Train Dynamics program by the Analytical Mechanics Section, Martin Marietta Corporation, Denver Division....