BASICS
OF
RAILWAY ENGG.
zones and its divisions
The 18 zones and their 70 divisions of Railway in India.
What is permanent way?
The railway track of permanent nature is called permanent way or permanent
track.
In other words, a permanent way is the combination of rails, fitted on sleepers
and resting on ballast and subgrade.
Requirements of an Ideal Permanent Way
The following are the principal requirements of an ideal permanent way:
1. The gauge should be correct and uniform.
2. The rail should be at a proper level. In the straight track, two rails must be at
the same level. On curves, the outer rail should have proper superelevation.
3. The alignment should be correct.
4. The Gradient should be uniform. Any change of gradient should be followed by
a smooth vertical curve.
5. The tractive resistance of the track should be minimum.
6. The track should possess sufficient elasticity.
7. The track should be sufficiently strong against lateral forces.
8. The radius and superelevation on curves should be properly designed and
maintained.
9. The drainage system of the track should be perfect.
10. It should be free from excessive rail joints. All joints including points and
crossing should be properly designed and maintained.
What is Railway Gauge?
The clear horizontal distance between the inner faces of the two rails forming a
track is known as a Railway Gauge.
The distance between the inner faces of a pair of wheels is called the wheel
gauge.
What is Railway Gauge?
The clear horizontal distance between the inner faces of the two rails forming a
track is known as a Railway Gauge. The distance between the inner faces of a pair
of wheels is called the wheel gauge.
Types of Gauges in India
In Indian railway, the following gauges are used:
•a) Standard Gauge or Broad Gauge – Gauge width 1.676 m.
•b) Metre/Meter Gauge (M.G) – Gauge width 1.000 m.
•c) Narrow Gauge (N.G) – Gauge width 0.672 m.
•d) Feeder Track Gauge or Light Gauge – Gauge width 0.610 m.
What is Broad Gauge?
When the clear distance between the inner faces of the two rails is 1.676m, then
the gauge is called Broad Gauge. This is also known as the Standard Gauge.
What is Metre Gauge?
If the horizontal distance between the inner faces of two rails is 1.0 m, the gauge is
called Meter Gauge.
What is the Narrow Gauge?
When the clear distance between the inner faces of the two rails is 0.762m, the
gauge is called the Narrow Gauge. These gauges are mainly used for the hilly area
and the place where traffic volume is low.
Factors Affecting Adopting of a Particular Gauge
The following factors govern the choice of different gauges:
1. Cost of construction and funds available for the railway project.
2. Volume and nature of traffic.
3. The intensity of the population.
4. Industrial and commercial development of the locality.
5. Prospects of future development of the area.
6. Topographical and geological features of the country.
7. Speed of movement required.
Types of Rail Joints
Rail joints are widely used to connect two rails together and ensure the trains
passing through safety in orbit. According to the position of the sleeper, rail joints
can be classified into three types: supported joints, suspended joints and bridge
joints.
Supported joint:
It is a rail joint in a railroad rail having a sleeper directly under the rail ends. On
one hand, it would reduce the wear and tear of the rail through supporting the rail
joint. On the other hand, such supporting joint makes the joint move hard even
though the support may have a slightly raise the height of the rail ends.
Suspended joint:
It is a rail joint coming between two railroad rail sleepers and some portion of rail is
cantilevered at the joint. Just because the cantilever action, the joint becomes
loose due to the hammering action of passing train loads. Suspended joints are
commonly used on railway systems all over the world, especially in India.
Bridge joints:
It is a rail joint which is similar to the suspended joint. Compared with the
suspended joint, on either side of bridge joint are connected by means of a metal
flat or a corrugated plate known as a bridge plate. This type of joint is not
commonly used on Indian railway.
Rail Joint and Fastenings
Rail joints can also be called one of the rail fasteners. While using the rail joints,
some other fastenings is indispensable, such as fish bolt, rail nut and washer.
Apart from bolts and nuts, other fastenings like rail clips, rail clamps, dog spikes,
screw spikes and rail anchors are provided by AGICO Rail.
Creep of Rail
It is defined as a longitudional movement of rail with respect to sleeper. Rail have
the tendency to gradually move in the direction of dominant traffic. The creep of
rail is common to all railway tracks and its value varies from almost nothing in
some cases to about 130 mm/ month in creep.
There is wide variation in the amount of creep of rail.
Causes of Creep of Rail
1. Acceleration or Starting of Train :
At the time of acceleration, Wheel gives lateral thrust which causes creep of rail.
2. Deaccelerating or Stopping of Train :
If sudden stopping of train takes place, braking effect tends to push the rail
forward and thus causes creep in forward direction.
Insufficient numbers of sleepers is laid.
Uneven spacing of sleepers.
Improper expansion joints.
Use of improper and faulty sleepers.
Rails too light for the traffic carried by them.
Poor drainage work.
Improper maintenance of track guage and joints.
What is a Railway Sleeper?
Railway sleepers are the components on which the rails are arranged with proper
gauge. These sleepers generally rests on ballast and is also called as ties in some
regions. The load from rails when train passes, is taken by these sleepers and is
distributed it to the ballast.
Functions of Railway Sleepers
The basic functions of Railway sleepers are to:
hold the rails strongly and to maintain uniform gauge.
transfer the load from rails to the ballast or ground.
reduce the vibrations coming from rails.
offer longitudinal and lateral stability.
• Classification of Railway Sleepers
Based on the materials used, railway sleepers are classified into
following types.
Wooden sleepers
Concrete sleepers
Steel sleepers
Cast iron sleepers
Composite sleepers
Wooden Sleepers
These are sleepers made of wood. Wooden sleepers are used since olden days.
These are still widely using in some western countries. Either hardwood or softwood
can be used to make wooden sleepers. However, hardwood sleepers made of oak,
jarrah, teakwood are more famous.
Concrete Sleepers
Concrete sleepers are manufactured by concrete with internal reinforcement.
Concrete sleepers used in many countries due to its high stability and small
maintenance. These are more suitable for high speed rails. Most of the concrete
sleepers are made from pre-stressed concrete in which internal tension is induced
into the sleeper before casting. Hence, the sleeper withstand well against high
external pressure.
Steel Sleepers
Steel sleepers are more often used because of stronger than wood and economical
than concrete. They also have good life span. They are molded in trough shape and
placed on ballast in inversed trough shape.
Cast Iron Sleepers
Cast iron sleepers are widely used in the world especially in Indian railways. They
are available in 2 types, pot type sleepers and plate type sleepers. Pot type
sleepers are not suitable for curves sharper than 4 degrees. CST 9 type sleepers
more famous in Indian railways.
Composite Sleepers
Composite sleepers are modern type sleepers which are made from waste plastic
and rubber. Hence, it is also called as plastic sleepers. They have many combined
properties of all other types.
What are Rail Fastenings?
Rail fastenings are devices that are used for securing rails into chairs or directly to
sleepers. These devices fasten the rails to sleepers and facilitate an effective
transfer of force.
These also ensure a proper slope of rail foot (1:20, 1:40) in the transverse plane.
Rail fastenings also prevent the longitudinal movements of rails, and dampen the
noise and vibration emanating from rails.
Fishplate
A fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two
rails to join them together in a track. Three commonly used types of rail fishplate
include: Bolted fishplates, Compromise fishplates and Insulated joints.
