A railroad car, railcar, railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck, also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport network. Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.
A railway track or railroad track, also known as a train track or permanent way, 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.
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.
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.
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.
A work train or departmental train is one or more rail cars intended for internal non-revenue use by the railroad's operator. Work trains serve functions such as track maintenance, maintenance of way, revenue collection, system cleanup and waste removal, heavy duty hauling, and crew member transport.
A ballast cleaner is a machine that specialises in cleaning the railway track ballast of impurities.
A ballast regulator is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment used to shape and distribute the gravel track ballast that supports the ties in rail tracks. They are often used in conjunction with ballast tampers when maintaining track.
A concrete sleeper or concrete tie is a type of railway sleeper or railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete.
Plasser & Theurer is an Austrian manufacturer of rail track maintenance and track laying machines. It accounts for 6% of Austrian exports of the machinery and iron and steel construction industry.
Ladder track is a type of railway track in which the track is laid on longitudinal supports with transverse connectors holding the two rails at the correct gauge distance. Modern ladder track can be considered a development of baulk road, which supported rails on longitudinal wooden sleepers. Synonyms include longitudinal beam track.
A track renewal train is a work train that consists of many units of machinery and materials required for track renewal projects.
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, submarine, or other floating structure that holds water is called a ballast tank. Water should move in and out from the ballast tank to balance the ship. In a vessel that travels on the water, the ballast will remain below the water level, to counteract the effects of weight above the water level. The ballast may be redistributed in the vessel or disposed of altogether to change its effects on the movement of the vessel.
Etihad Rail DB was a heavy-rail Operations & Maintenance (O&M) service provider in the UAE. The company was set up in 2013 as a joint venture between Etihad Rail (51%), the developer of the UAE's national railway network and Deutsche Bahn (DB) (49%), Europe's largest railway operator and infrastructure owner. Etihad Rail DB was responsible for the operations and maintenance of Stage One of the UAE's national railway network for Etihad Rail’s primary customer, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Etihad Rail DB concluded an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Agreement with Etihad Rail in August 2013.
The Warwickslade Cutting Railway was a light railway temporarily built to fill in the Warwickslade Cutting, a straight drainage ditch dug circa 1850 in the New Forest of south-east England, with imported gravel and clay. In 2009, the Forestry Commission decided to obliterate it and replace it by a more natural meandering stream.
Guide Bridge Sidings is a stabling point located in Guide Bridge, Greater Manchester, England. The depot is situated to the east of Guide Bridge station, on the line to Stalybridge.
Matisa Matériel Industriel S.A. is a Swiss company that manufactures rail maintenance machines and provides associated services. It was founded in 1945 and is based in the canton of Vaud.
