Maglev is a transport system that uses the magnetic levitation to move vehicles without contact to the guideway. The system uses magnetic forces for levitation, propulsion and guidance of the vehicle, thereby making practically negligible the friction forces and allowing very high speeds. The technological evolution is making this transportation system competitive and gaining consideration as a…
General considerations The relative position of railway double or multiple adjacent lines is of critical importance for level crossings. On canted tracks, the road traffic is affected if the level crossing does not provide a good riding plane, especially for long vehicles or the (sometimes expensive) low profile ones. This is why the design of…
Motto: Tolle lege. Most of the railway track design standards around the world are presenting the particular issue of the reverse transition. All these standards are insisting on keeping a constant rate of change of curvature – a constant A. By doing this in fact the design will include a single continuous transition between the two opposite circular…
INTRODUCTION In transportation infrastructure design the route is defined based on its axis (centreline) – the alignment model. This simplified abstract model is designed in such a way to clearly define the principle course of the infrastructure project. For most of the transportation means the infrastructure alignment design is split into two main two-dimensional complex…
After the post about the limits of vertical acceleration, and even before, I was asked what was the original curve used to connect vertical gradients. What was first, the circle or the “egg”- the parabolic curve? The expected answer was “the circular curve” because, presumably, a circle can be drawn easier than a parabola… “How…
An anecdote: Track geometry exam, somewhere at a Civil Engineering University. One of the exam subjects is realignment methods and types of versines. This important subject was covered during the track course hours but also in four seminars and in a realignment project homework – so it was supposed to be an easy one … After checking the…
The theory of vertical movement. The parabolic projectile motion An object thrown in the air, near the earth’s surface, moves along a parabolic path under the action of gravity only. The only force of significance that acts on the object is gravity, which acts downward to cause a downward acceleration. Because of the object’s inertia, no external horizontal force is needed…
Another classic book it sure is “British Railway Track Design, Construction and Maintenance”, edited by Geoffrey H Cope and having around 40 contributors for writing the 30 chapters of this essential track compendium. Its last six edition was published in 1993 by The Permanent Way Institution. Presenting the essential principles but also the British specifics…
A railway track blog 