 ASSIGNMENT NO: 01

 MUHAMMAD IMRAN
 18610
 TRANSPORTATION AND PLANNING
 CIVIL ENGINEERING
 5TH B
 22ND DECEMBER. 2021-12
 SIR MUHAMMAD ZAHID
  POINTS AND CROSSINGS
INTRODUCTION:
 
Points and crossings are provided to help transfer railway vehicles from one track to another.
The tracks may be parallel to, diverging from, or converging with each other. Points and
crossings are necessary because the wheels of railway vehicles are provided with inside
flanges and, therefore, they require this special arrangement in order to navigate their way
on the rails. The points or switches aid in diverting the vehicles and the crossings provide
gaps in the rails so as to help the flanged wheels to roll over them. A complete set of points
and crossings, along with lead rails, is called a turnout.
 

 TURNOUTS
 
The simplest arrangement of points and crossing can be found on a turnout taking off from a
straight track. There are two standard methods prevalent for designing a turnout. These are
the (a) Coles method and the (b) IRS method.
 
These methods are described in detail in the following sections.
 
The important terms used in describing the design of turnouts are defined as follows.
 
1. CURVE LEADS (CL): 
This is the distance from the tangent point (T) to the theoretical nose of crossing (TNC)
measured along the length of the main track.
 
2. SWITCH LEAD (SL): 
This is the distance from the tangent point (T) to the heel of the switch (TL) measured along
the length of the main track.
 
3. LEAD OF CROSSING (L): 
This is the distance measured along the length of the main track as follows:
Lead of crossing (L) = curve lead (CL) - switch lead (SL)
 
4. Gauge (G):
 This is the gauge of the track.
 
5. HEEL DIVERGENCE (D): 
This is the distance between the main line and the turnout side at the heel.
 
 6. ANGLE OF CROSSING ( A ):
This is the angle between the main line and the tangent of the turnout line.
 
7. RADIUS OF TURNOUT (R): 
This is the radius of the turnout. It may be clarified that the radius of the turnout is equal to
the radius of the centre line of the turnout (R1) plus half the gauge width.
R = R1 + 0.5G
As the radius of a curve is quite large, for practical purposes, R may be taken to be equal
to R1.
 
 SPECIAL FITTINGS WITH TURNOUTS
 
Some of the special fittings required for use with turnouts are enumerated below.
 
Distance blocks Special types of distance blocks with fishing fit surfaces are provided at the
nose of the crossing to prevent any vertical movement between the wing rail and the nose of
the crossing.
 
Flat bearing plates 
As turnouts do not have any cant, flat bearing plates are provided under the sleepers.
 
Spherical washers
 These are special types of washers and consist of two pieces with a spherical point of contact
between them. This permits the two surfaces to lie at any angle to each other. These washers
are used for connecting two surfaces that are not parallel to one another. Normally, tapered
washers are necessary for connecting such surfaces. Spherical washers can adjust to the
uneven bearings of the head or nut of a bolt and so are used on all bolts in the heel and the
distance blocks behind the heel on the left-hand side of the track.

Slide chairs 
These are provided under tongue rails to allow them to move laterally. These are different for
ordinary switches and overriding switches.
 
Grade off chairs 
These are special chairs provided behind the heel of the switches to give a suitable ramp to
the tongue rail, which is raised by 6 mm at the heel.
 
Gauge tie plates
 These are provided over the sleepers directly under the toe of the switches, and under the
nose of the crossing to ensure proper gauge at these locations.
 
Stretcher bars 
These are provided to maintain the two tongue rails at an exact distance.
 
Cole’s method:
 
This is a method used for designing a turnout taking off from a straight track (Fig. 14.11). The
curvature begins from a point on the straight main track ahead of the toe of the switch at the
theoretical toe of switch (TTS) and ends at the theoretical nose of crossing (TNC). The heel of
the switch is located at the point where the offset of the curve is equal to the heel
divergence. Theoretically, there would be no kinks in this layout, had the tongue rail been
curved as also the wing rail up to the TNC. Since tongue rails and wing rails are not curved
generally, there are the following three kinks in this layout.

 
(a) The first kink is formed at the actual toe of the switch.
 
(b) The second kink is formed at the heel of the switch.
 
(c)  The third kink is formed at the first distance block of the crossing. The notations used in
Fig. 14.11 are the following.
 
Curve lead (CL) = AE = TE'
 
Switch lead (SL) = TL
 
Lead of crossing (L) = LE'
 
Gauge of track (G) = AT = EE'
 
Angle of the crossing (a ) = �CEA = �ECE�
 
Heel of divergence (d) = LM
 
Number of the crossing (N) = cota
 
Radius of outer rail of turnout curve (R) = OE = OT (O is the centre of the turnout curve)
 
 CALCULATIONS
 
Curve lead (CL) In DATE.
 

= 2GN (approximately)
 
Switch lead (SL) TL is the length of the tangent with an offset LM = D = heel divergence.
 
From the properties of triangles, SL � SL = d (2R - d)

LEAD OF CROSSING (L)

 
L = curve lead - switch lead
 
Radius of curve (R) In DAOE:
 
OE = OT = R, OA = R -  G
OE2 = OA2 + AE2
OE2 = (R - G) 2 + (curve lead)2

 TURNOUT OF SIMILAR AND CONTRARY FLEXURE

  TOUNGE RAIL:
  It is a tapered movable rail, made of high-carbon or -manganese steel to withstand wear. At
its thicker end, it is attached to a running rail. A tongue rail is also called a switch rail.
A tongue rail may be either straight or curved. Straight tongue rails have the advantage that
they are easily manufactured and can be used for right-hand as well as left-hand turnouts.
Design of Tongue Rails
A tongue rail may be either straight or curved. Straight tongue rails have the advantage that
they are easily manufactured and can be used for right-hand as well as left-hand turnouts.
However, get jolted trains while negotiating with straight tongue rails turnouts because of
the abrupt change in the alignment. Straight tongue rails are normally used for 1 in 8.5 and 1
in 12 turnouts on Indian Railways.
 
Curved tongue rails are shaped according to the curvature of the turnout from the toe to the
heel of the switch. Curved tongue rails allow for smooth turning of trains, but can only be
used for the specific curvature for which they are designed. Curved switches are normally
used for 1 in 16 and 1 in 20 IRS (Indian Railway Standard) turnouts on Indian Railways.
Recently Indian Railways has also started laying 1 in 8.5 and 1 in 12 turnouts with curved
switches on important lines.

 
 
 LENGTH OF TONGUE RAILS:
 
The length of a tongue rail from heel to toe varies with the gauge and angle of the switch. The
longer the length of the tongue rail, the smoother the entry to the switch because of the
smaller angle the switch rail would make with the fixed heel divergence. The longer length of
the tongue rail, however, occupies too much layout space in station yards where a number of
turnouts have to be laid in limited space. The length of the tongue rail should be more than
the rigid wheel base of a four-wheeled wagon to preclude the possibility of derailment in
case the points move from their position when a train is running on the switch. Table 14.3
gives the standard lengths of switches (tongue rails) for BG and MG tracks.
 
Table 14.3   Length of tongue rail

 Stock rail It is the running rail against which a tongue rail operates.
 
 CROSSING:
A crossing is a device introduced at the junction where two rails cross each other to permit
the wheel flange of a railway vehicle to pass from one track to another.
Crossing

A crossing or frog is a device introduced at the point where two gauge faces cross each other
to permit the flanges of a railway vehicle to pass from one track to another.
Crossing
 
A crossing or frog is a device introduced at the point where two gauge faces cross each other
to permit the flanges of a railway vehicle to pass from one track to another (Fig. 14.5). To
achieve this objective, a gap is provided from the throw to the nose of the crossing, over
which the flanged wheel glides or jumps. In order to ensure that this flanged wheel
negotiates the gap properly and does not strike the nose, the other wheel is guided with the
help of check rails. A crossing consists of the following components, shown in Fig. 14.6.
 
 
(a)  Two rails, the point rail and splice rail, which are machined to form a nose. The point rail
ends at the nose, whereas the splice rail joins it a little behind the nose. Theoretically, the
point’s rail should end in a point and be made as thin as possible, but such a knife edge of the
point rail would break off under the movement of traffic. The point rail, therefore, has its fine
end slightly cut off to form a blunt nose, with a thickness of 6 mm (1/4"). The toe of the blunt
nose is called the actual nose of crossing (ANC) and the theoretical point where gauge faces
from both sides intersect is called the theoretical nose of crossing (TNC). The 'V' rail is planed
to a depth of 6 mm (1/4") at the nose and runs out in 89 mm to stop a wheel running in the
facing direction from hitting the nose.

(b) Two wing rails consisting of a right-hand and a left-hand wing rail that converge to form a
throat and diverge again on either side of the nose. Wing rails are flared at the ends to
facilitate the entry and exit of the flanged wheel in the gap.
(c)  A pair of check rails to guide the wheel flanges and provide a path for them, thereby
preventing them from moving sideways, which would otherwise may result in the wheel
hitting the nose of the crossing as it moves in the facing direction.

TYPES OF CROSSINGS
 A crossing may be of the following types.
 
(a).  An acute angle crossing or 'V' crossing in which the intersection of the two gauge faces
forms an acute angle. For example, when a right rail crosses a left rail, it makes an acute
crossing. Thus, unlike rail crossings forms an acute crossing
 
(b) An obtuse or diamond crossing in which the two gauge faces meet at an obtuse angle.
When a right or left rail crosses a similar rail, it makes an obtuse crossing 
A square crossing in which two tracks cross at right angles. Such crossings are rarely used in
actual practice.

For manufacturing purposes, crossings can also be classified as follows.

 
Built up crossing
 In a built-up crossing, two wing rails and a V section consisting of splice and point rails are
assembled together by means of bolts and distance blocks to form a crossing. This type of
crossing is commonly used on Indian Railways. Such crossings have the advantage that their
initial cost is low and that repairs can be carried out simply by welding or replacing each
constituent separately. A crossing becomes unserviceable when wear is more than 10 mm
(3/8"). A built-up crossing, however, lacks rigidity. The bolts require frequent checking and
sometimes break under fast and heavy traffic.
 
Cast steel crossing
 This is a one-piece crossing with no bolts and, therefore, requiring very little maintenance.
Comparatively, it is a more rigid crossing since it consists of one complete mass. The initial
cost of such a crossing is, however, quite high and its repair and maintenance pose a number
of problems. Recently cast manganese steel (CMS) crossings, which have longer life, have also
been adopted.
 
Combined rail and cast crossing
 This is a combination of a built-up and cast steel crossing and consists of a cast steel nose
finished to ordinary rail faces to form the two legs of the crossing. Though it allows the
welding of worn out wing rails, the nose is still liable to fracture suddenly.

Spring or Movable Crossing

 
In a spring crossing, one wing rail is movable and is held against the V of the crossing with a
strong helical spring while the other wing rail is fixed (Fig. 14.8). When a vehicle passes on the
main track, the movable wing rail is snug with the

Crossing and the vehicle

does not need to
negotiate any gap at the
crossing. In case the
vehicle has to pass over a
turnout track, the
movable wing is forced
out by the wheel flanges
and the vehicle has to
negotiate a gap as in a
normal turnout.
 
This type of
crossing is useful when
there is high-speed traffic on the main track and slow-speed traffic on the turnout track.
 
4. Raised Check Rails for Obtuse Crossings
 In order to provide a guided pathway in the throat portion of a 1 in 8.5 BG obtuse diamond
crossing, the check rails are raised by welding a 25-mm-thick MS plate. This arrangement is
considered satisfactory for BG as well as MG routes.
 
5. Position of Sleepers at Points and Crossings
  Sleepers are normally perpendicular to the track. At points and crossings, a
situation arises where the sleepers have to cater to the main line as well as to the turnout
portion of the track. For this purpose, longer sleepers are used for some length of the track as
shown in Fig. 14.9.
Consumables required for reconditioning of crossings

RAILWAY FROG:
Railway frog is an important part of the rail switch (rail turnout) and the intersection of two railway
lines. Whether a railway train can safely cross from one railway to another, the railway frog plays a
vital role. High-quality railroad frog can ensure the train transfer smoothly to another rail line, and the
passengers in the train won’t feel abnormal bumps. On the contrary, if the rail frog technology is not
good or the turnout in railway is selected with inappropriate rail frog, the irregularity will occur when
the train passes. Therefore, the choice of high-quality railway frog is particularly important for the
safety of the rail switch and even the whole railway line.
The Classification and Structure of Rail Frog:
The rail frog can be divided into a straight frog and a curved frog according to the plane type, and it
also can be divided into a fixed frog and a movable point frog (swingnose crossing) by structure type.

Fixed frog:
Rail bound manganese frog (RBM rail frog):

Rail bound manganese frog (RBM rail frog) is a kind of one-piece cast frog with manganese steel.
Because the simultaneous casting of the crossing nose and the wing rail, the rail bound manganese
frog’s integrity and stability are better. High manganese steel is a kind of alloy steel with both high
contents of manganese and carbon (manganese 12.5%, carbon 1.2%). The railway frog cast with high
manganese steel has higher strength and good wear resistance. Therefore, the rail bound manganese
frog has a longer service life and more convenient maintenance.
Combined type rail frog:
The combined type rail frog is made up of the crossing nose, the wing rail and other parts. The railway
frog of this structure is easy to use. Due to it has no special process requirements, so the process and
manufacture technology is not complicated. Because of the assembled structure, the combined type
rail frog has more separate parts and need more maintenance work.

Movable point frog (swing nose crossing):

The movable point frog refers to a railroad frog structure with movable parts. Because the railway
frog is partially movable, the harmful space created on the fixed frog is eliminated and making the
train runs smoothly. The movable point frog has three types, they are crossing nose movable type,
wing rail movable type and other movable railway frogs.
Crossing nose movable type:
The crossing nose is movable and the wing rail is fixed. When the train changes its orbit through the
rail switch, railroad frog guides the train into the correct track through the movement of crossing
nose. This type of rail frog has the advantage of good lateral stability and will not cause the train to
derail due to the wrong track. Its disadvantage is that the rail frog is relatively long and complicated to
manufacture.

Wing rail movable type:

This kind of rail frog structure has fixed crossing nose and movable wing rail. It can be divided into two
types: one-sided wing rail movable and two-sided wing rail movable. Movable point frog can
effectively improve the speed of the train passing through the rail turnout, which is widely used in
high-speed railway lines. The movable wing rail frog has poor lateral stability compared to the
crossing nose type frog, and the structure of the fixing device is relatively complicated.

Other movable railway frogs:

For example, Germany’s UIC60 rail switch uses a sliding block to fill the frog flange groove to make the
train change the running track. Another example, the flexible movable point frog turnout and
movable point frog rail speed-raising turnout have been developed in China. This movable point frog
rail speed-raising turnout can be used in cross-regional seamless rail lines. The straight speed of the
line laying this kind of rail frog turnout can reach 160 km/h.