Technical Reports

Fully Scalable Train Braking Simulation Environment

Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (MxV Rail), through a research project funded by Federal Railroad Administration (FRA),  developed a Concept of Operations (ConOps), documented the infrastructure design, and developed software to support a virtualized fully scalable train braking...

Unsaturated Characteristics of Fouled Ballast to Support in Situ Identification of Fouling Using Ground Penetrating Radar – Phase II

The Federal Railroad Administration funded researchers from Kansas State University and the University of Arkansas to establish the electromagnetic, suction, and strength characteristics of fouled ballast as a function of the fouling material and volumetric water content. The team previously...

The Fatigue and Safety of Locomotive Engineers and Conductors

An online survey was developed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and distributed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Sheet Metal, Air, and Rail Transportation workers –Transportation Division (SMART-TD) labor unions to their members. The purpose of...

Case Studies to Develop a Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Analysis Framework Using Microsimulation

There are approximately 126,700 highway-rail at-grade crossings in the U.S. A portion of those involve high-volume public streets where crossing events result in measurable traffic backups and delays to the extent that mitigation efforts are needed. Conventional traffic analysis methods such as...

Locomotive Horn Detectability at Closely-Spaced Highway-Rail Grade Crossings

Researchers assessed the feasibility of altering the locomotive horn sounding pattern of repetition at each crossing in a series of closely-spaced grade crossings by exploring the specific geometries and warning requirements for motorists in advance of such crossings. Acoustic modeling on five...

Developing Safe and Efficient Driving and Routing Strategies at Railroad Grade Crossings based on Highway-Railway Connectivity

This report documents the research involved in developing safe and efficient driving and routing strategies at highway-rail grade crossings (i.e., highway-rail intersections) based on highway-rail connectivity for economic evaluation, driver behavior analysis, and Eco-Driving and Eco-Routing...

Automated Track Change Detection Technology for Enhanced Railroad Safety Assessment

The Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Railmetrics, Inc. evaluated the use of 3D laser scanning, Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs), and change detection technology for railway track safety inspections. Researchers evaluated...

Improved Collision Protection for Train Passengers Seated in Wheelchairs: Evaluation of Active and Passive Strategies

The project evaluates wheeled mobility device (WhMD) securement and occupant restraint on passenger trains. Researchers tested three off-the-shelf wheelchair securement systems in a train-to-train collision as a proof-of-concept to mitigate the effects of second impact velocity. The tests...

Low-Cost Coupler Force Calculation from Impact Testing

Fractures in the stub sills of tank cars pose a significant problem for the rail industry due to the potential for damage to the tank structure and eventual release of the contents. Previous FRA research revealed that high magnitude coupling forces that occur in yard operations have the...

Comparison of Measured and Simulated Longitudinal Coupler Force on Tank Cars

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Technical Reports