In rail transport, track gauge or track gage is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails.
The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a maximum weight-per-axle ; exceeding the maximum rated axle load will cause damage to the roadway or rail tracks.
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
The African Union of Railways is an organisation under the auspices of the new African Union dealing with railways. It is similar to the International Union of Railways (UIC).
The Kalka–Shimla railway is a 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge railway in North India which traverses a mostly-mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. It is known for dramatic views of the hills and surrounding villages. The railway was built under the direction of Herbert Septimus Harington between 1898 and 1903 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India during the British Raj, with the rest of the Indian rail system.
The Iron Ore Line is a 398-kilometre (247 mi) long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden, owned by Trafikverket. The line also contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaara and from Gällivare to Koskullskulle. The term is often colloquially used to also include the Ofoten Line, from Riksgränsen to Narvik in Norway, and the northernmost part of the Main Line Through Upper Norrland from Boden to Luleå. The railway from Narvik to Luleå is 473 kilometres (294 mi) long.
The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt 1,067 mm narrow gauge for a main line, and now the second largest narrow gauge network in the world, consists of:
The Indian locomotive class WAG-9 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by ABB Group (ABB) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Goods traffic (G), 9th generation (9) locomotive. They entered service in 1996. A total of 1996 WAG-9 have been built at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), with more units being built at Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). It was the most powerful freight locomotive of its fleet until the formal induction of the WAG-12.
Iore, often stylized IORE, is a class of 34 electric locomotives built by Adtranz and its successor Bombardier Transportation for the Swedish mining company LKAB's railway division Malmtrafik. The class is a variation of Adtranz's Octeon modular product platform, thus related to Bombardier's later TRAXX platform. The locomotives haul iron ore freight trains on the Iron Ore Line and Ofoten Line in Sweden and Norway, respectively. The 8,600-tonne 68-car trains are hauled by two single-ended Co′Co′ locomotives, each with a power output of 5,400 kW (7,200 hp). Each operates with 600 kilonewtons tractive effort and has a maximum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). Delivery of the first series of 18 locomotives was made from 2000 to 2004, and they replaced some of the aging Dm3 and El 15 units. In 2007, eight more vehicles were ordered, with production to be completed by 2011, by which time, another four double units were ordered. These units are scheduled to be delivered from 2013 to 2014.
The Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line, or the Sydvaranger Line, is a 8.5-kilometer (5.3 mi) long railway line between Kirkenes and Bjørnevatn in Sør-Varanger, Norway. Owned by the private mining company Northern Iron, the single-track railway is solely used to haul 20 daily iron ore trains from Bjørnevatn Mine to the port at Kirkenes. It was the world's northernmost railway until 2010, when the Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line in Russia went further north.
LKAB Malmtrafik, earlier Malmtrafik i Kiruna AB (MTAB), is a Swedish railway company which operates the iron ore freight trains on the Iron Ore Line and the Ofoten Line. MTAB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the mining company Luossavaara–Kiirunavaara (LKAB). In Norway, operations are handled by the subsidiary Malmtrafikk AS (MTAS). Malmtrafik hauls ore from LKAB's mines in Kiruna, Malmberget and Svappavaara to the ports of Luleå and Narvik, the latter located in Norway. The company owns 28 Iore locomotives and 750 hopper cars. Each train is 68 cars long and weighs 8,600 tonnes, allowing the company to transport 33 million tonnes per year.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is an Australian iron ore company. Fortescue is the fourth largest iron ore producer in the world after BHP, Rio Tinto, and Vale. The company has holdings of more than 87,000 km2 in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, making it the largest tenement holder in the state, larger than both BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
SA3 couplers are railway rollingstock couplings used primarily in Russia and states influenced by the former Soviet Union, such as Finland and Mongolia.
The Lillesand–Flaksvand Line or LFB was a 16.59-kilometer (10.31 mi) railway between Flaksvand and Lillesand in Agder, Norway. The private line was built with 1,067 mm narrow gauge and was not connected to the national railway network. The line opened on 4 June 1896, and remained in use until 15 June 1953. It was built to carry lumber, but also featured a passenger service and other cargo transport. After 1908, the line was unprofitable and only had a limited service. Plans to connect it to the Sørland Line were proposed but rejected. The line had four stations and four halts, and was served with two 75 kilowatts (100 hp) steam locomotives, Lillesand and Flaksvand. The line was owned and operated by the private company, A/S Lillesand–Flaksvandbanen, although nearly all the shares were held by local municipalities, the county and the national government.
The Silverton Tramway was a 58-kilometre-long 1,067 mm railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the link between the 1,435 mmstandard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways lines. It was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company (STC).
The length of a train, including the longest trains, may be measured in number of wagons or in metres for general freight. Train lengths and loads on electrified railways, especially lower voltage 3000 V DC and 1500 V DC, are limited by traction power considerations. Drawgear and couplings can be a limiting factor, tied in with curves, gradients and crossing loop lengths.
The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the centerline of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important bearing on construction costs and operating costs and, in combination with superelevation in the case of train tracks, determines the maximum safe speed of a curve. The minimum radius of a curve is one parameter in the design of railway vehicles as well as trams; monorails and automated guideways are also subject to a minimum radius.
The Sishen–Saldanha railway line, also known as the Ore Export Line (OREX), is an 861-kilometre-long (535 mi) heavy-haul railway line in South Africa. It connects iron ore mines near Sishen in the Northern Cape with the port at Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape. It is used primarily to transport iron ore and does not carry passenger traffic.
Double-stack rail transport is a form of intermodal freight transport in which railroad cars carry two layers of intermodal containers. Invented in the United States in 1984 it is now being used for nearly seventy percent of United States intermodal shipments. Using double stack technology, a freight train of a given length can carry roughly twice as many containers, sharply reducing transport costs per container. On United States railroads special well cars are used for double-stack shipment to reduce the needed vertical clearance and to lower the center of gravity of a loaded car. In addition, the well car design reduces damage in transit and provides greater cargo security by cradling the lower containers so their doors cannot be opened. A succession of larger container sizes have been introduced to further increase shipping productivity in the United States.
The South African Railways Class 34-400 of 1973 is a diesel-electric locomotive.
