A railway track or railroad track, also known as a train track, permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost fully segregated from the outside environment. Third rail systems are usually supplied from direct current electricity.
The railway track or permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on the sleepers or ties embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway. It is described as permanent way because in the earlier days of railway construction, contractors often laid a temporary track to transport spoil and materials about the site; when this work was substantially completed, the temporary track was taken up and the permanent way installed.
A railroad tie, crosstie, railway tie or railway sleeper is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.
In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially serious hazard.
The Breitspurbahn was a planned 3,000 mm broad-gauge railway, proposed during the time of Nazi Germany, supposed to run with double-deck coaches between major cities of Grossdeutschland, Hitler's expanded Germany, and neighbouring states.
Track ballast is the material which forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the compression load of the railroad ties, rails, and rolling stock; to facilitate drainage; and keep down vegetation that can compromise the integrity of the combined track structure. Ballast also physically holds the track in place as the trains roll over it.
High-speed railway track construction is the process by which Lignes à Grandes Vitesses, the land on which TGV trains are to run, is prepared for their use, involving carving the track bed and laying the track. This construction technique is used both for the French TGV network and other TGV-based networks outside of France.
Tramway track is used on tramways or light rail operations. Grooved rails are often used to provide a protective flangeway in the trackwork in city streets. Like standard rail tracks, tram tracks consist of two parallel steel rails.
A tamping machine or ballast tamper, informally simply a tamper, is a self-propelled, rail-mounted machine used to pack the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks and roadbed more durable and level. Prior to the introduction of mechanical tampers, this task was done by manual labour with the help of beaters. As well as being faster, more accurate, more efficient and less labour-intensive, tamping machines are essential for the use of concrete sleepers since they are too heavy to be lifted by hand.
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 rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to its length.
A concrete sleeper or concrete tie is a type of railway sleeper or railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete.
Barlow rail was a rolled rail section used on early railways. It has wide flaring feet and was designed to be laid direct on the ballast, without requiring sleepers. It was widely adopted on lightly trafficked railways, but was ultimately unsuccessful because of maintenance difficulties.
A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties or sleepers. The terms rail anchors, tie plates, chairs and track fasteners are used to refer to parts or all of a rail fastening system. The components of a rail fastening system may also be known collectively as other track material, or OTM for short. Various types of fastening have been used over the years.
Baulk road is the name given to a type of railway track or 'rail road' that is formed using rails carried on continuous timber bearings, as opposed to the more familiar 'cross-sleeper' track that uses closely spaced sleepers or ties to give intermittent support to stronger rails.
A stoneblower is a railway track maintenance machine that automatically lifts and packs the sleepers with small grade ballast, which is blown under the sleepers to level the track. An alternative to the use of a ballast tamper, the totally self-contained machine levels track without the use of a large gang of workmen.
A bogie bolster wagon is a British railway term for a wagon designed to carry long thin cargoes such as timber or rails and other steel sections. The sides and ends are minimal and there is no roof. The load is carried longitudinally and borne by three or more bolsters fixed transversely. The load is constrained sideways by movable metal stanchions fitted into the ends of the bolsters, and secured with chains and shackles.
A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt.
Green track is a type of railway track in which the track bed and surrounding area are planted with grass turf or other vegetation as ground cover. It is a popular way of making railways more visually appealing, particularly for trams and light rail, and providing additional urban green space. Aside from the visual improvement, the vegetation provides a number of positive effects, such as noise reduction, less air pollution, rainwater runoff mitigation, and reduced urban heat island effect.
