CE 4151

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING-II
 SYLLABUS

1. Highway Engineering

2. Railway Engineering
 RAILWAY ENGINEERING

Syllabus:
 General Requirements  Curvature of Track
 Alignment / Gauge of  Track Fittings and Fastenings
Track
 Signaling and Interlocking
 Rails
 Station and Yard
 Sleeper
 Point and Crossing
 Ballast
 Train Resistance and Rolling Stock
 RAILWAY ENGINEERING

Reference Books:
 Railway Engineering
-- By Satish Chandra & M.M. Agarwal

 A Text Book on Railway Engineering

-- By Rangawala
 RAIL GAUGES

 Definition:

The gauge of a railway track is defined as the clear

minimum perpendicular distance between the inner
faces of the two rails.
 TYPES OF GAUGE

 Broad gauge

 Narrow gauge

 Metre gauge

 Standard gauge
FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF GAUGE

1. Traffic Condition
2. Development of Poor Area
3. Cost of Track
4. Speed of Movement
5. Nature of Country
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF GAUGE

Development of Poor Area

Narrow gauge is laid in certain poor areas

to connect it to the outer developed areas.
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF GAUGE

Cost of track:

The cost of track is directly proportional to the

width of gauge. Hence if the fund is not available
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF GAUGE

Speed of movement:

The higher speed demands wider gauge of the

railway track.
 UNIFORMITY IN GAUGES

The gauge in a country, generally, should be

uniform.

 Difficulties to passengers

 Difficulties for sending goods

 Inefficient use of the rolling stock

 Inefficient use of equipment

LOADING GAUGE & CONSTRUCTION GAUGE
 RAILS

The railway tracks are consist of three

components:

1. Rails

2. Sleepers

3. Ballast
 REQUIREMENTS OF AN IDEAL RAILWAY TRACK

 Gauge should be uniform.

 Minimum friction between the wheels and the rails.
 Load should be uniformly distributed to the rails.
 Gradient should be even and uniform.
REQUIREMENTS OF AN IDEAL RAILWAY TRACK (CONTD.)

 Should have sufficient lateral rigidity and vertical

stiffness.
 Drainage facilities should be good.
 The rail joints should be properly designed and
maintained.
 FUNCTIONS OF RAILS

 Provide a continuous and level surface.

 Serve as a lateral guide for the wheels.
 Provide a pathway which is smooth and has very
little friction.
 FUNCTIONS OF RAILS (CONTD.)

 Rails bear the stresses developed due to vertical loads

transmitted to them through axles and wheels of
rolling stock as well as due to braking and thermal
forces.
 Carry out the function of transmitting the load to a
larger area of the formation through sleepers and the
ballast.
CROSS SECTION OF A RAIL
 REQUIREMENTS FOR AN IDEAL RAIL SECTION

 The rail should have the most economical section

consistent with strength, stiffness, and durability.
 The centre of gravity of the rail section should
preferably be very close to the mid-height of the rail
so that the maximum tensile and compressive
stresses are equal.
 A rail primarily consists of a head, a web, and a foot,
and there should be an economical and balanced
distribution of metal in its various components so
that each of them can fulfill its requirements
properly.
CROSS SECTION OF A RAIL
 STANDARD RAIL SECTION

 The rail is designated by its weight per unit

length.

 In FPS units, it is the weight in lbs per yard and

in metric units it is in kg per metre.

 A 52 kg/m rail denotes that it has a weight of 52

kg per metre.
 TYPES OF RAILS

 Double Headed Rails (DH)

 Bull Headed Rails (BH)
 Flat Footed Rails (FF)
 DOUBLE HEADED RAIL

 The first rails used were double headed (DH) and

made of an I or dumb-bell section.
 The idea was that once the head wore out during
service, the rail could be inverted and reused.
 Experience, however, showed that while in service
the bottom table of the rail was dented to such an
extent because of long and continuous contact with
the chairs that it was not possible to reuse it.
 Thus, these rails are now-a-days practically out of use.
 The double headed rails were made of wrought iron with length
varying from 610 to 732 cm and weight of 49.6 kg/m.
DOUBLE HEADED RAIL
DOUBLE HEADED RAIL
 BULL HEADED RAIL

 The unsuitability of using double headed rail led to

the development of the bull headed (BH) rail, which
has an almost similar shape but with more metal in
the head to better withstand wear and tear.
 This rail section had the major drawback that chairs
were required for fixing it to the sleepers.
 It is made of steel with length generally 18.29 m and weight of
43.9 kg/m.
BULL HEADED RAIL
BULL HEADED RAIL
 FLAT FOOTED RAIL

 A flat-footed rail, with an inverted T-type cross

section therefore, developed, which could be fixed
directly to the sleepers with the help of spikes.
 Another advantage of the flat-footed rail is that it is a
more economical design, giving greater strength and
lateral stability to the track as compared to a BH rail
for a given cross-sectional area.
 This form of rail has become so much popular that at
present about 90% of the railway track in the world is
made of this type.
FLAT FOOTED RAIL
FLAT FOOTED RAIL
 ADVANTAGES OF FLAT FOOTED RAIL

 Chair
 Stiffness
 Kinks
 Cost
 Load distribution
CHAIR OF RAIL
CHAIR OF RAIL
KINK OF RAIL
KINK OF RAIL
 WEIGHT OF RAILS

Though the weights of a rail and its section depend upon

various considerations, the heaviest axle load that the
rail has to carry plays the most important role. The
following is the thumb rule for defining the maximum
axle load with relation to the rail section:

Maximum axle load = 560 × sectional weight

of rail in kg per metre
 LENGTH OF RAILS

 Theoretically, the longer the rail, the lesser the

number of joints and fittings required and the lesser
the cost of construction and maintenance.
 Longer rails are economical and provide smooth and
comfortable rides.
 The length of a rail is, however, restricted due to the
following factors.
a) Lack of facilities for transport of longer rails, particularly on
curves.
b) Difficulties in manufacturing very long rails.
c) Difficulties in acquiring bigger expansion joints for long rails.
d) Heavy internal thermal stresses in long rails.
 DECAY OF RAILS

 Corrugation of rails / Roaring of rails

 Corrosion of rails
 Wear of rails
 Coning of rails
 Hogging of rails
 Buckling of rails
 CORRUGATION OF RAILS

 What is Corrugation of rails ?

 CORRUGATION OF RAILS

Causes:

 High speed of trains

 Excessive tight gauge
 Coning of engine wheels
 Non-uniformity of diameter of engine wheels
 Sudden application of brakes
 CORRUGATION OF RAILS

Occurrence:

 At the starting and stopping of the trains.

 On the electrified section of a railway track
 In long tunnels
 CORRUGATION OF RAILS

Remedy:

 Corrugation can be removed by grinding the rail

head by a fraction of a millimeter
 Rail grinding train, which moves at a speed of 30
kmph and grinds both rails simultaneously.
 CORROSION OF RAILS

 What is Corrosion of rails ?

 CORROSION OF RAILS

Reasons:

 Due to the presence of damp condition of weather.

 Coastal area where salt is found in water and soil.

 Usually found in industrial areas, wet tunnels and

near ash-pits.
 CORROSION OF RAILS

Effect:

 The rail section is gradually reduced.

 The strength of rail is lowered.
 Increase in wear of rail and resulted in failure of
the rail.
 CORROSION OF RAILS

Remedy:

 Quality of rail:
For the areas, where corrosion is likely to occur,
the rails prepared from special steel or alloy steels
can be used.
 Surface treatment:
The rail surface is coated with non-corrosive
material. Special paints, red lead, bitumen, coal
tar etc, can be used.
 WEAR OF RAILS

What is Wear of rails ?

 Due to the passage of moving loads and friction

between the rail and the wheel, the rail head gets
worn out in the course of service.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Reasons:
 The impact of moving loads,
 the effect of the forces of acceleration, deceleration,
and braking of wheels,
 the abrasion due to rail–wheel interaction,
 the effects of weather conditions such as changes in
temperature, snow, and rains,
 the presence of materials such as sand,
 the standard of maintenance of the track, and such
allied factors cause considerable wear and tear of
the vertical and lateral planes of the rail head.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Reasons:

 Wear at the top location occurs due to wheel-rail

interaction.

 Lateral wear occurs more on curves because of

the lateral thrust exerted on the outer rail by
centrifugal force.

 A lot of the metal of the rail head gets worn out,

causing the weight of the rail to decrease. This
loss of weight of the rail section should not be
such that the stresses exceed their permissible
values. When such a stage is reached, rail
renewal is called for.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Locations:

 on sharp curves, due to centrifugal forces

 on steep gradients, due to the extra force applied
by the engine
 on approaches to railway stations, possibly due to
acceleration and deceleration
 in tunnels and coastal areas, due to humidity and
weather effects
 WEAR OF RAILS

Types of wear:

 Vertical Wear : on top of the rail head

 Lateral Wear : on the sides of the rail head
 Battering : on the ends of the rail
of rail ends
 WEAR OF RAILS

Vertical Wear
The metal from the top of rail flows and forms projections. These
are known as burrs.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Lateral Wear
This is the most destructive type of wear and occurs on the
curvature of a railway track.
Reasons:
1. Due to curvature of the track.
2. Straight vehicles, curved track.
3. Slipping action of wheel on curves.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Lateral Wear
 WEAR OF RAILS
Lateral Wear
 WEAR OF RAILS

Wear at Rail End

Occurs due to the jump of the wheel from on rail section to the
other.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Effect of Jump of wheel

1. Fish-plate and bolts become loose.
2. Contact surface of rail and sleeper worn out.
3. Sleepers at the expansion joints depressed.
 WEAR OF RAILS

Wear at Rail End

 WEAR OF RAILS

Methods to reduce wear

Coning of wheels and super-elevation can reduce wear of rail
significantly. In addition, the following methods can reduce wear
significantly.

1. Use of special alloy steel

2. Good maintenance of the track
3. Reduction of expansion gap
4. Introducing check rails
5. Use of lubricating oil
6. Head hardened rails
7. Exchange of inner and outer rails on curves
 HOGGING OF RAILS

Definition:
A Hogged Rail is the surface defect of the rail in which the rail
ends are bent downward at the joints.
 CONING OF WHEELS

Definition:
The flanges of wheels are never made flat, but they are in the
shape of a cone with a slope of about 1 in 20.
As the wheels are set on the axle, there is some chance for lateral
movement between the flanges of the wheels would cause a slight
but sudden shock to the sides of the rail.
Hence, without coning, the flanges would cause a slight but sudden
shock to the sides of the rails.
CONING OF WHEELS
 TILTING OF RAILS

How to facilitate the coning of wheels?

Answer: Tilting of rails.
 TILTING OF RAILS

How to facilitate the coning of wheels?

Answer: Tilting of rails.
 TILTING OF RAILS

How to facilitate the coning of wheels?

 CONING OF WHEELS

How to facilitate the coning of wheels?

 TILTING OF RAILS

How does it work?

 HOGGING OF RAILS

What is Hogging of Rail?

 HOGGING OF RAILS

How to remove it?

 Dehogging of the rail end

 Welding of the rails end
 Cutting off the rail end
 Removing the whole section
 HOGGING OF RAILS

How to remove it?

SLEEPERS
 SLEEPERS

Definition:

Sleepers are the transverse ties that are laid to support

the rails.

They have an important role in the track as they

transmit the wheel load from the rails to the ballast.
SLEEPERS
 SLEEPERS

Functions of sleepers:
 Holding the rails in correct gauge and alignment

 Giving a firm and even support to the rails

 Transferring the load evenly from the rails

 Acting as an elastic medium between the rails and ballast

 Providing longitudinal and lateral stability to the track

 Providing the means to rectify the track geometry during

their service life.
 SLEEPERS

Requirements of ideal sleepers:

 Initial as well as maintenance cost should be minimum.

 The weight of the sleeper should be moderate so that it is

convenient to handle.

 The designs of the sleeper and the fastenings should be

such that it is possible to fix and remove the rails easily.

 Should have sufficient bearing area so that the ballast

under it is not crushed.

 The sleeper should be such that it is possible to maintain

and adjust the gauge properly.
 SLEEPERS

Requirements of ideal sleepers (contd.):

 The material of the sleeper and its design should be such
that it does not break or get damaged during packing.

 The design of the sleeper should be such that it is

possible to have track circuiting.

 The sleeper should be capable of resisting vibrations and

shocks caused by the passage of fast moving trains.

 The sleeper should have anti-sabotage and anti-theft

features.
 SLEEPERS

Types of sleepers based on position:

Depending upon the position of in the railway track, sleepers
may be classified into two categories -

 Longitudinal sleeper

 Transverse sleeper
 SLEEPERS

Types of sleepers based on position:

 SLEEPERS

Types of sleepers based on position:

Depending upon the materials, sleepers may be classified into
following categories -

 Timber / wooden sleeper

 Steel sleeper

 Cast-iron sleeper

 Concrete sleeper
 SLEEPERS

Timber sleepers:
It fulfils the requirements of an ideal sleepers satisfactorily
and hence, it is universally used almost ever since the
invention of rail.
Only the possible shortage of wood in future has led to the
thinking of sleepers of other materials.
 SLEEPERS

Properties of timber sleepers:

 Utility

 Life

 Corrosion

 Insulation

 Treatment

 Size
 SLEEPERS

Properties of timber sleepers:

 Utility:

Suitable for heavy loads and high speeds.

 SLEEPERS

Properties of timber sleepers:

 Life:

Depends on climatic conditions, intensity and nature of

traffic, quality of wood and maintenance of the track.

Service life, usually, 12 to 15 years.

 SLEEPERS

Properties of timber sleepers:

 Corrosion:

Does not corrode.

 SLEEPERS

Properties of timber sleepers:

 Insulation:

Good for track circuiting.

 SLEEPERS

Advantages of timber sleepers:

 Cheap and easy to manufacture
 Absorbs shocks and bears a good capacity to dampen
vibrations; therefore, retains the packing well
 Easy handling without damage
 Suitable for track-circuited sections
 Suitable for areas with yielding formations
 Alignment can be easily corrected
 More suitable for modern methods of maintenance
 Can be used with or without stone ballast
 Can be used on bridges and ash pits
 SLEEPERS

Disadvantages of timber sleepers:

 Lesser life due to wear, decay, and attack by vermin

 Liable to mechanical wear due to beater packing

 Difficult to maintain the gauge

 Susceptible to fire hazards

 Negligible scrap value

 SLEEPERS

Steel sleepers:
In view of the great shortage of wooden sleepers, steel
channel sleepers have been developed.
 SLEEPERS

Properties of steel sleepers:

 Life : Usually 30 to 40 years

 Corrosion : Corrode

 Insulation: cannot be used in track circuiting.

 SLEEPERS

Section of steel sleepers:

 SLEEPERS

Advantages of steel sleepers:

 Long life

 Easy to maintain gauge and less maintenance problems

 Good lateral rigidity

 Less damage during handling and transport

 Simple manufacturing process

 Very good scrap value

 Free from decay and attack by vermin

 Not susceptible to fire hazards

 SLEEPERS

Disadvantages of steel sleepers:

 Initial cost is comparatively high

 Liable to corrode

 Unsuitable for track-circuited areas

 Liable to become centre-bound because of slopes at

the two ends

 Develops cracks on rail seats during service

 Design is rail specific

 SLEEPERS

Cast-iron sleepers:
Made of cast-iron. Two types of sleepers are used; pot and
plate type .
 SLEEPERS

Types of cast-iron sleepers:

 Pot type

 Plate type
 SLEEPERS

Types of cast-iron sleepers:

 Pot type
 SLEEPERS

Types of cast-iron sleepers:

 Plate type
 SLEEPERS

Types of cast-iron sleepers:

 Pot type
 SLEEPERS

Properties of cast-iron sleepers:

 Life : Usually 35 to 50 years

 Maintaining gauge: is not good

 Fittings : requires larger number of fittings and

fastenings

 Scrap value : good in scrap value

 SLEEPERS

Advantages of cast-iron sleepers:

 Less corrosion

 Less probability of cracking at rail seat

 Easy to manufacture

 Higher scrap value

 SLEEPERS

Disadvantages of cast-iron sleepers:

 Gauge maintenance is difficult as tie bars get bent

 Provides less lateral stability

 Unsuitable for track-circuited lines

 Susceptible to breakage
 SLEEPERS

Concrete sleepers:
History of development:
The need for concrete sleepers has been felt mainly due to --

 Economic considerations coupled with changing traffic

patterns.

 Shortage of resource of wood

 Development of concrete technology in the nineteenth

century,

In the year 1877, Mr Monnier, a French inventor of reinforced

concrete, suggested for concrete sleeper.
 SLEEPERS

Concrete sleepers:
 SLEEPERS

Properties of Concrete sleepers:

 Life : usually 40 to 50 years

 Weight : varies from 150 to 300 kg

 Suitability : most suitable for welded rail track

 Insulation : good for track circuiting

 Scrap value : not good in scrap value

 SLEEPERS

Advantages of concrete sleepers:

 being heavy, lend more strength and stability to track

 allow a track to maintain better gauge, cross level, and

alignment. They also retain packing very well

 can be used in track-circuited areas

 neither inflammable nor subjected to damage by pests

corrosion under normal circumstances

 have a very long lifespan, probably 40–50 years

 SLEEPERS

Disadvantages of concrete sleepers:

 Handling and laying concrete sleepers is difficult

 Mechanical methods, which involve considerable

initial expenditure, have to be adopted for handling
them

 heavily damaged at the time of derailment

 have no scrap value

 SLEEPERS

Sleeper Density:
Sleeper density is the number of sleepers per rail length.
It is specified as M + x or N + x,
where M or N is the length of the rail in metres and x
is a number that varies according to factors such as

(a) axle load and speed,

(b) type and section of rails,
(c) type and strength of the sleepers,
(d) type of ballast and ballast cushion, and
(e) nature of formation.
BALLAST
 BALLAST

Definition:

The material placed in between the sleeper and the top of

the formation is known as ballast.

The load from the wheels of trains ultimately comes to

the ballast through rails and sleepers.
BALLAST
 BALLAST

Functions:
 Provides a level and hard bed for the sleepers to rest on.
 Holds the sleepers in position during the passage of trains.
 Transfers and distributes load from the sleepers to a large
area of the formation.
 Provides elasticity and resilience to the track for proper
riding comfort.
 Provides the necessary resistance to the track for
longitudinal and lateral stability.
 Provides effective drainage to the track.
 Provides an effective means of maintaining the level and
alignment of the track.
 BALLAST

Requirements:
It should be --
 tough and wear resistant.
 hard so that it does not get crushed under loads.
 generally cubical with sharp edges.
 non-porous and should not absorb water.
 resist both attrition and abrasion.
 durable and should not get pulverized or disintegrated
under adverse weather conditions.
 allow for good drainage of water.
 cheap and economical.
 BALLAST

Materials used as ballast:

 Broken stone
 Gravel
 Sand
 Kankar
 Moorum
 Brickbats
 Selected earth
 Ashes
 BALLAST

Depth of ballast:
The depth of the ballast is defined as the distance
between the bottom of the sleeper and top of the
sub-grade.
 BALLAST

Laboratory Tests for Properties of Ballast :

 Aggregate abrasion value
 Aggregate impact value
 Flakiness index
 Specific Gravity and
 Water Absorption Test