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1. Corporate Induction
2. Railtrack Zone
3. Electrification and Plant Appreciation
4. Plant Maintenance
5. Maintenance Planning
6. Track Design
• Estimating
• Surveying
• Basic Design
• Curves
• Deficiancy and Cant
• Gauging
• Track Inspection
• Clearance analysis
• Center and End Throw
• Buffer Locking
• Stepping Distances
• Design Proceedure
• Evaluation
7. Vehicle Systems Design
8. Manufacturing
9. Track Renewals
10. Electrification Testing and Commisioning
11. Electrification Design and Construction
12. Overhead Line and Track Renewals
13. Career Directed Experience
 
14. Links

Track inspection

A site visit to Edinburgh was undertaken to a company called VAE Rail. The purpose of the visit was to inspect a major S&C layout that was being constructed. This was to be used in the Leeds First project, and we were there to ensure that the actual crossing matched the design.

S&C basics

S&C is used to allow a train to pass from one line to another. A basic diagram can be drawn to show how a standard S&C layout works. This is shown in FIG. XXX.

The moving part of the turnout is the switch "blade" or "point", one for each route. The two blades are fixed to each other by a tie bar to ensure that when one is against its stock rail, the other is fully clear and will provide room for the wheel flange to pass through cleanly. Either side of the crossing area, wing and check rails are provided to assist the guidance of the wheels through the crossing.

The crossing can be cast or fabricated. Rails are usually made of steel with a large iron content but a little manganese is added to crossings and some heavily used rails to increase resistance to wear. An example of a cast manganese crossing can be seen below.

Not only did we inspect the layout, but we also had a guided tour around the factory where all rail is machined. This was a useful visit since I actually got to look at some of the design issues of S&C. For example, I looked at the transition rail as seen in Fig XXX, the difference between a shallow bearer and a normal bearer as seen in Fig. XXX and saw the different types of crossings available as mentioned in the last paragraph.