Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec.

Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

The following are the standard methods for the development technique:

1- Zigzag line method: In this method, the railway line traverses in a zigzag alignment and
follows a convenient side slope which is at nearly right angles to the general direction of
the alignment. The line then turns about 180° in a horseshoe pattern to gain height.

2- Switch-back method ) In the case of steep side slopes, a considerable gain in

elevation is accomplished the switch-back method. This method involves a reversal of
direction achieved by a switch, for which the train has to necessarily stop.
Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

The switch point is normally located in a sta on yard. A and B are two switches and A1 and B1
are two buffer stops . A train coming from D will stop at B1 and move in back
gear to line BA. It will stop at A1 again and then follow the line AC.

3- Spiral or complete loop method: This method is used in a narrow valley where a small
bridge or viaduct has been constructed at a considerable height to span the valley.

In this case, normally a complete loop of the railway line is constructed, so that the line
crosses the same point a second time at a height through a flyover (overpass) or a tunnel.

Mountain Railways characteristics

There are few hills or mountains that have been connected by railway lines. Some of the
important features of these mountain railways are the following:

1- Gradients: Normally tracks with gradients of 3% or more are considered mountain tracks.

2- Gauge: Normally narrow gauges with gauge widths of 762 mm or 610 mm are adopted for
mountain railways.

3- Curvature: The curvature of mountain tracks is very sharp. Curvatures of up to 40° are
normally adopted.
Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

4- Alignment: Mountain alignment is quite zigzag and not straight in order to gain heights
easily. The type of alignments normally followed is zigzag, switch-back and spiral.

Track and Track Stresses

The track (or permanent way) is the railroad on which trains run Permanent way: The
combination of rails, fitted on sleepers with the help of fixtures and fastenings and resting on
ballast and subgrade is called the railway track or permanent way. It consists: Rails, sleepers,
ballast and formation.

Track components

The mechanism of transmission the stresses over railway track components:-

1- The rails act as girders to transmit the wheel load of trains to the sleepers.
2- The sleepers transfer the load to the ballast.
3- The ballast provides a uniform level and transfers the load to a larger area of the
formation.
4- The formation takes the total load of the track as well as of the trains moving on it.

Forces Acting on the Track

A rail is subjected to heavy stresses due to the following types of forces.

(a) Vertical loads consisting of dead loads, dynamic augment ) of loads including the effect of
speed, the hammer blow effect, and the inertia of reciprocating ) masses, etc.

(b) Lateral forces due to the movement of live loads, eccentric ) vertical loading, shunting
of locomotives, etc.