TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING-II

(BCE-34)

Unit 1: Introduction to Railway Engg.

By
Dr. A.K. Mishra
Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
M.M.M.U.T. Gorakhpur-273010 (U.P.)
 Syllabus(BCE-34)
• Topics Covered
• UNIT-I
Indian Railways: Development and organization of Indian Railways. Permanent way: Sub-
grade formation, embankment and cutting, track damage. Rails: Rail gauges, types of rails,
defects in rails, rail failure, creep of rail.
Rail Fastenings: Fish plates, spikes, chairs, keys, bearing plates. Sleepers: Timber, steel, cast
iron, concrete and pre stressed concrete sleepers, manufacturing of concrete sleepers, sleeper
density.
Ballast: Ballast materials, size of ballast, screening of ballast, specification of ballast, tests on
ballast
• UNIT-II
• Railway Track Geometry: Gradients, horizontal curves, super elevation, safe speed on curves,
cant 9 deficiency, negative super elevation, compensation for curvature on gradients, track
resistance and tractive power. Points and Crossings: Elements of simple turn-out, details of
switch, details of crossings, number and angle of crossings, design of turn-out.
 ------Continue
• UNIT-III
Stations & Yards: Site section for a railway station, layout of different types of stations,classification
of stations, types of railway yard, functioning of Marshalling yards. Signalling and Interlocking:
Classification of signals, methods of train working, absolute block system, mechanical interlocking of
two line railway stations.

• UNIT-IV
Airport Engineering: Air craft characteristics, types of airports, layout of airports, airport planning 9
and design, runway orientation, wind-rose diagram, estimation of runway length and correction.
Harbors, Layout and port facilities; inland waterways; inland water operation

• Textbooks
1. A Text Book of Railway Engineering by S. P. Arora & S. C. Saxena.
2. Airport Planning and Design by S. K. Khanna, M. G. Arora

• Reference books
1. Railway Engineering - M.M. Aggarwal.
2. Railway Engineering - Vasvani.
3. Railway Engineering - B.L. Gupta and Amit Gupta.
Points to be discussed
1. Development of railways in India.
2. Permanent way and railway track components.
3. Different gauges in India.
4. Conning of wheels.
5. Function and types of rails, rail sections, defects
in rails, creep of rails, rail joints and welding of
rails.
6. Sleepers – types, spacing and density,
7. Rail fixtures and fastenings.
8. Ballast
9. subgrade and embankment.
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 DETAILS OF STANDARD RAIL SECTIONS
RAIL Wt/mt Area of Height DIMENSIONS
SECTION
section

sq.mm

A B C D E F

50R 24.8 3168 104.8 100 52.4 9.9 32.9 15.1

60R 29.76 3800 114.3 109.5 57.2 11.1 35.7 16.7
75R 37.13 4737 128.6 122.2 61.9 13.1 39.7 18.7
90R 44.61 5895 142,9 136.5 66.7 13.9 43.7 20.6

52 Kg/m 51.89 6615 156 136 67 15.5 51 29.0

60 Kg/m 60.34 7686 172 150 74.3 16.5 51 31.5

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 Comparison between FF and BH Rail
Comparison Flat footed rail (FF) Bull Headed rails
(B.H.)
Strength/stiffness Higher Lesser
Rigidity Higher (can be used Lesser (can not used
without bearing plate) without chair)
Initial cost Lower( less fastenings) Higher ( costly
fastenings required)
Laying Easy( Chair not Difficult(chair
required) required)
Inspection Not required Daily required
Maintenance Lesser Higher
Replacement Difficult Easy
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 Marking in Rail
section
• IRS-52 Kg-710-TISCO-II1991 OB
• IR= INDIAN RAIL SECTION- 52 Kg/mt.
• 710= Grade of rail section i.e. 710 or 880 ( UTS)
• TISCO= Manufacturer’s name ( Tata Iron and Steel
• II 1991 : Month and year of manufacturer( Feb-
1991)
• OB= Process of steel making e.g. Open hearth
basic (OB).
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 CREEP OF RAILS
• Definition of creep
LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF RAILS IN
A TRACK WITH RESPECT TO
THE SLEEPERS.

• MOVES IN THE DIRECTION OF TRAFFIC OR IN

THE DIRECTION OF MOTION OF
LOCOMOTIVES
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 Indication of creep
• Occurrence of creep can be noticed from the
following observation
1. Closing of successive expansion spaces at
rail joint and opening out of joints at the
point where creep starts
2. Marks on flanges and webs of rails made by
spike heads, by scraping or scratching as
the rail slide.

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 Extent of Creep
• Creep does not vary at some constant
rate. (it is not constant)

• Creep does not continue in one

direction only.

• Creep for two rails of the track will not be in

equal amount.
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 CREEP
• THEORIES OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
CREEP OR
Causes of creep
• 1)Wave Motion Theory- Moving load cause
deflection.
• 2)Percussion Theory.- Impact of wheel
• 3) Drag Theory.- Backward thrust of driving
wheel .
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 CREEP
• THEORIES OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
CREEP OR
Causes of creep
• 4) Starting acceleration, slowing down or
stopping of train.
• 5) Expansion or contraction of rails due to
temperature.
• 6) Unbalanced traffic.
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 CREEP
• THEORIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREEP
• 1)Wave Motion Theory- Moving load cause
deflection.

• When train passes on a track, the portion of

rail length under the wheel of train will under
more stresses and little depression will exist.

• As a result, this depressionwill cause

(set) a wave motion in the rail or track
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 CREEP
• THEORIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREEP
• 1)Wave Motion Theory- Moving load cause
deflection.

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 Percussion theory
• Creep is due to impact of wheel at the rail
end ahead at joints
• Factors
– Loose fish bolts
– Wornout fish plates
– Loose packing at joints
– Wide expansion gap
– Heavy axle load.

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 Drag theory
• Starting and slowing down of trains
– Forces actingat time of starting,
acceleration, slowing down or stopping of trains
causes creep.
– During starting- wheel push the rails backward

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 CREEP
• EFFECTS OF CREEP
• Several and Serious
• -Buckling of track – Derail of train.
• --Effects—
• 1) Sleeper move out of position.
• 2) Rail joint – open or jammed.

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 CREEP
• EFFECTS OF CREEP
• 3) Points and crossing get distorted.
• 4) Problem in re-fixing/ changing rail
• 5) Buckling of track
• 6) Braking of bolt, Fish plate, kinkin
rail.
• 7) Ballast section gets disturbed.
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 Factors governing magnitude and
direction of creep
• Gradient of track
• Type of rail
• Alignment of track
• Direction of heaviest traffic
• Poor maintenance of track

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 CREEP
• MEASURE TO REDUCE CREEP
• 1) Well maintain track-
–Packed sleeper
2) Careful look at jammed joints.
3) Provide anti creep bearing plate
on wooden sleeper.

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 CREEP
• MEASURE TO REDUCE CREEP
• 4) Pulling back the rail.
• 5) Use of steel sleeper. ( increase
no of sleeper.)

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 CORRUGATED RAILS
OR
ROARING RAILS
• Places :
- Where brakes are applied or Trains start.
– Poor ballast
– Use of light wagons and coaches
Remedial measure
- Rail grinding trains

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 Wear of rail

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 Contents

• Scope of study

• Functions of sleepers
• Requirements.
• Types of sleeper
• Spacing of sleeper

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• Sleepers are members generally laid

transverse to the rails, onwhich the rails

are

fixed to transfer the loads from the rails to the

ballast and the subgrade.

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 Types of Sleepers
 Wooden Sleepers

 Cast Iron
Sleepers

 Steel Sleepers

 Concrete
Sleepers .
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 Spacing of sleeper for a fish
plated
Spacing of sleeper
track
Broad gauge Meter Gauge
c/c spacing c/c spacing
(mm) (mm)
Wooden Metal Wooden Metal

Bet’n joint sleeper (a) 300 380 250 330

Bet’n joint sleeper and the 610 610 580 580
first shoulder sleeper (b)
Bet’n first shoulder sleeper and 700 720 700 710
second shoulder sleeper (C)
density M+ 4
As above Density M + 7 (c) 640 630 620 600
Bet’n intermediate sleeper (d) 840 830 820 810
M+ 4
As above density M + 7 ( dro) 6 8 0
, D an In stit
680 720 640
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Steel trough sleeper

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Steel Sleeper with pressed up lug

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S.T Sleeper with pressed up lugs

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Sleeper with loose jaws inserted
into holes.

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Pot sleeper

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CST-9 Sleeper

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 C.I. Pot sleeper

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Can not use on curve shaErngpg.eanrd Ttehhcanonoygl4R-˚KAJoOTn BG-
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CST-9 Sleeper

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 Need of concrete sleeper

• Wooden sleeper short life span

• Cast Iron -heavy consumption of cast iron.
• Higher speed of train and Installation of long
welded rail
• Capable of offering adequate lateral
resistance to track.-- > Wooden and steel
sleeper fails .
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Mono-block Presteressed Conc.
sleeper

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Rail seat- Prestressed Conc. sleeper

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Twin block sleeper

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PCS-12 mono-block concrete sleeper

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 Comparison of Different types of sleeper
Characteristics Wooden Steel C.I. Concrete
Service life 12-15 yr. 40-50 yr 40-50 yr 50-60 yr
Weight-BG-Kg 83 79 87 267
Handling Manual Manual Manual No Manual
No No Liable to Liable to
damage damage
damage damage while while
while while handling handling
handling handling
Type of Manual or Manual or Manual Mechanized
maintenance
mechanized mechanized only
Cost of High Medium Medium Low
Maintenance
Gauge DifficultProf. Ujjval J SolanEki,aDasryshan Institute of Easy Not possible
Adjustment .
 Comparison of Different types of sleeper
Characteristics Wooden Steel C.I. Concrete
Track circuiting Best Difficult Difficult Easy
Damage by Can be Corrosion Corrosion Not
white ant and damaged possible possible possible
corrosion

Suitability for Suitable Suitable Suitable Suitable for

fastenings for CF* for CF* for CF * EF** only
and EF** and EF** only

Track Elasticity Good Good Good Best

Creep Excessive Less Less Minimum
Scrap value Low Higher Higher None

* C.F.-CONVENTIONAL FPAofrS. . UTvjN IN G S , * *E . F . ELASTIC

j la J aloS kn , iD arshan nsI ut ti et o f
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FIXTURES AND FASTENINGS
• Fixtures and fastenings are fittings requires for
joining of rails end to end and also for fixing
the rails to sleepers in a track.
 FUNCTIONS OF FIXTURES AND
FASTENINGS
• Rail fixtures and fastenings have the
following functions:
• (i)To join the rails end to end to form full length
of track.
• (ii) To fix the rails to sleepers.
• (iii) To maintain the correct alignment of the track.
• (iv) To provide proper expansion gap between rails.
• (v) To maintain the required tilt of rails.
• (vi) To set the points and crossings in proper position.
 TYPES OF FIXTURES AND FASTENING

• Fixtures and fastenings commonly used in

a permanent way are of following types:
• 1. Fish plates
• 2. Bearing plates
• 3. Spikes
• 4. Chairs
• 5. Bolts
• 6. Keys
• 7. Anticreepers
 FISH PLATES
• Fish plates are used in rail joints to maintain
the continuity of the rails.
• Two types of fish plates are commonly used on
Indian Railways for joining F.F. and B.H. rails,
each fish plate is 457 mm long and provided
with four holes 32 mm at a spacing of 114 mm
c/c.
• These are manufactured of steel and are so
designed that they fit in between the head and
foot of the rail.
 REQUIREMENTS OF FISH PLATES

• (i) They should hold the adjoining ends of rails

in correct horizontal and vertical plane.
• (ii) should allow of free longitudinal
They rails due to
movements temperature
variation.
• (iii) They should be able to resist all types of
wear.
• (iv) They should be able to bear the vertical
and lateral stresses which come at joints
without any distortion.
• (v) They should allow easy renewal
replacement of rails in and of wear
damage case and
 BEARING PLATES
• Bearing plates are cast iron or steel plates placed
in between the F.F rail and wooden sleepers of a
railway track.
• F.F. rails if fixed directly on wooden sleepers sink
in the sleeper due to the heavy loads of trains and
thus loosen the spikes.
• To overcome this difficulty bearing plates are
used under F.F. rails to distribute the load over a
wider area and bring the intensity of pressure
within limit.
• Bearing plates give the required 1 in 20 inward
slope to the rail directly and no adzing* is
required in the wooden sleeper.
• These are fixed to sleepers by spikes.
 ADVANTAGES
• Following are the advantages of bearing plates:
• (i) They distribute the loads to wider area
and prevent sinking of the rail to the sleeper.
• (ii) They avoid adzing of sleepers.
• (iii) They enable the spikes to remain tight
and require less maintenance.
• (iv) Bearing plates prevent the widening of gauge
on curves.
• (v) Bearing plates increase the overall stability of
the track.
• (vi) They prevent the destruction of the
sleeper due to rubbing action of the rail.
 DISADVANTAGES
• Following are the disadvantages of bearing plates:
• (i) When the bearing plates become loose due to
settlement of ballast, moisture is likely to enter
between the sleepers and plates, causing sleepers
to wear.
• (ii) When any spike is damaged and it is required
to be redriven at another place, all other spikes of
the bearing plates have to be removed, which will
reduce the holding power of the spikes.
 SPIKES
• Spikes are used to fix rails to wooden
sleepers.

• Spikes are of following types:

• (a) Dog spikes
• (b) Round spikes
• (c) Screw spikes
• (d) Elastic spikes
 Dog spikes
• Dog spikes are the cheaper type of spikes
which hold the rails at correct gauge and can
be easily fixed and removed.
• These are commonly used for holding F.F.
rails.
• Four dog spikes are used per sleeper, two on
either side of the rail.
• The disadvantage of dog spikes is that these
become loose under the wave action caused by
the moving train.
 Round spikes
• Round spikes are used for fixing chairs of B.H.
rails to wooden sleepers and also for fixing
slide chairs of points and crossings.
• These have either cylindrical or hemispherical
head and blunt end.
 Screw spikes
• Screw spikes are tapered screws with V-threads.
• Their head is circular with a square projection
and are used to fasten rails with wooden
sleepers.
• The holding power of these spikes is more than
double to that of dog spikes and can resist the
lateral thrust better than the dog spikes
 Elastic spikes
• Elastic spikes are used for fixing F.F. rails to
wooden sleepers.
• These give better grip and result in reduction
of wear and tear of rail.
• The advantage of this type of spike is that it is
not pulled up by the wave action of the moving
train.
 REQUIREMENTS OS A GOOD
SPIKE
• (i) It should be easy in fixing or
removing from the sleepers.
• (ii) It should hold the rails and bearing plates
in proper position.
• (iii) It should be cheap.
• (iv) It should require minimum maintenance.
• (v) It should not come out of the
sleepers under vibrations.
 BOLT
S
• Different types of bolts used in Indian Railway
are described below:-
• FISH BOLTS
• HOOK BOLTS
• FANG BOLTS
 FISH BOLTS
• Fish bolts are used for connecting fish
plates with the rails.
• Four bolts are required for each pair of
fish plates.
• These bolts are inserted from outside the track
and bolted on the inside of the track.
• Fish bolts have to withstand shear due to heavy
transverse stresses, hence they are manufactured
of medium or high carbon steel.
• The length of fish bolt depends on the type of fish
plate used.
• For 44.70kg rail, the fish bolts of 25 mm dia and
127.6 mm length are used.
• These bolts get loosened due to vibration of
moving train and hence these are to be tightened
time to time.
• Too much tightening of bolts is prohibited as it
prevents free expansion or contraction of rails due
to temperature vibrations.
 HOOK BOLTS
• Hook bolts are also known as dog bolts due to
the shape of their heads. These bolts are used
to fix sleepers which rest directly on a girder.
Two bolts per sleeper are used.
• Dog bolts are of two types.
• (i) Sloping lips- for fixing sleepers to plate
girder spans.
• (ii) Straight lips- for fixing sleepers to joist
spans
 FANG BOLTS
• Fang bolts are used for fixing side chairs to
sleepers.
• These are alternative to screw or round spikes.
The fang bolts are found to be more effective
but are not generally used, because fixing and
removal of these bolts are difficult.
 KEYS
• These are small tapered pieces of timber or
steel used to fix rails to chairs on metal
sleepers.
• Keys are of two types
• (i) wooden keys
• (ii) Metal keys
 Wooden keys
• Wooden keys are small straight or
tapered pieces of timber.
• These are cheap and Easily prepared.
• These are not strong and become loose
under vibrations.
• These require frequent maintenance.
• Wooden keys are not used now-a days
in Indian Railways.
 Metal keys
• Metal keys are small tapered or spring
like pieces of steel.
• These keys are much durable than
more wooden keys.
• Metal keys are of two types.
• (i) Stuart`s key and
• (ii) Morgan key
 ANTI-CREEPERS
• Anti-creepers are used to prevent creep in
a railway track.
• Different shapes of anti-creepers are available
and are fixed to the foot of rail.
 Ballast …..

It is a layer of broken stone, gravel, moorum or any other gritty

(sand) material placed & packed below & around sleepers for

distributing the load from the sleepers to the formation & for

providing drainage as well as giving longitudinal & lateral

stability to the track.

 Ballast - Functions
 Provide level & hard bed for sleepers.

 Hold Sleepers in position.

 Transfer & distribute load to wide area.
Provide elasticity & resilience to track.
 Provide longitudinal & lateral stability.
 Provide effective drainage.
 Maintain level & alignment of track.
 Ballast - Requirements
1. It should be tough and should not crumble under
heavy loads.
2. It should be cubical shape & angular shape with
sharp edges.
3. It should be able to non-porous & non-water
absorbent
particles of ballast are usually more durable due to
better resistance .
4. It should not make the track dusty or muddy.
5. It should offer resistance to abrasion and weathering.
6. It should not produce any chemical reaction with rails
and sleepers.
 Ballast - Requirements…..
7. It should provide good drainage system.
8. The size of stone ballast should be 5cm for wooden sleepers,
4cm for metal sleepers & 2.5 cm for turnouts & crossovers.
9. It should be cheep & economical or the ballast should be
available in nearest quarries.
10.In short, the ballast should be such which fulfils the
characteristics of strength, clean ability, durability, economy
& stability.
 Ballast - Types…..
 Broken Stone
 Sand
 Blast furnace slag or cinders
 Soft aggregate like moorum & gravel
 Kankar (lime agglomerate which is common in certain
clayey
soils and is dug out of the ground)
 Brick ballast
 Ballast - Types…..
1. Broken Stone
 Mostly used in Indian railways.
 Procured from hard stones like granite, quartzite, hard
trap etc.
 Economical in long run.
Ballast – Types…
2. Sand
 It is cheap and provides good drainage.
 The best sand consist of a good quantity of fine
gravel & sand which is used on narrow gauge (N.G)
tracks.
 Its blowing effect due to vibration.
 The sand gets into the moving parts and on the track
and causes heavy wear.
 hence the sand laid is covered with stones, bricks to avoid
blowing about too much.
 Ballast - Types…..
3. Blast Furnace Slag
 It is used in yards, sidings etc,
It is used as initial ballast in new
construction.
 Cheap & easily available.
 But its corrosive, harmful for steel sleepers & fittings.
4. Moorum
 It is the soft aggregate & is the result of decomposition
of laterite & has a red & sometimes a yellow colour.
Also used as blanketing material on black cotton soil.
 Cheap & easily available.
 But its corrosive, harmful for steel sleepers & fittings.
 Ballast - Size…..
 The size of ballast used varies from 1.9 cm to 5.1 cm.
 The best ballast is that which contains stones varying in
size from 1.9 cm to 5.1 cm with reasonable proportion of
intermediate sizes.
 The exact size of the ballast depends upon the type of
sleeper used and location of the track as below.
• Ballast size for wooden sleeper tracks = 5.1 cm
• Ballast size for steel sleepers tracks = 3.8 cm
• Ballast size for under switches & crossings =
2.54cm
 Ballast - Section
The section of the ballast layer consist of depth of ballast under
the sleepers & the width of the ballast layer.
The depth of the ballast under the sleepers is an important
factor in the load bearing capacity & uniformity of distribution
of load.
The width of the ballast layer is also important as the lateral
strength of track depends partly upon the quantity of ballast
used at the ends of the sleepers.
Ballast – Depth

 Minimum depth of ballast = 1/2 (c/c Sleepers Spacing – Width

of sleepers).
for example, the sleeper spacing 65 cm & width of sleeper
is 25 cm, the calculate above equation minimum depth of
ballast is 20 cm
 Details of Ballast Sections…..

Sl.no Dimensions B.G M.G N.G

1 Width of Ballast 3.35 m 2.25 m 1.83 m

2 Depth of Ballast 20 to 25 cm 15 to 20 cm 15 cm

Quantity of
3 stone ballast 1.036 Cu.m 0.71 Cu.m 0.53 Cu.m
per meter
length
 Traction & Tractive Resistances
The train consists of two units the locomotive(Or engine)
which provides power for driving force and the trailing unit
which consists of passenger compartments or goods wagons.

Definition : The source through which the locomotive drives

power is called traction.
Sources : - Steam, Diesel fuel & Electric supply (AC/DC)

 Traction / Power has a bearing upon.

 Load carrying capacity, speed, economy and efficiency of
the track.
 Tractive Resistances
Definition : The number of forces which resist the
movement and speed of a train .

 The Classification of Tractive Resistances..

a) Train resistance (RT1)
b) Resistance due to track profile (RT2)
c) Resistance due to starting & acceleration (RSA)
d) Wind resistance (Rw)
 Tractive Resistances
Train resistance (RT1): Train can further be

resistances classified in following categories.

 Resistances Independent of speed (Rt1).

 Resistances dependent on speed (Rt2).

 Atmospheric resistances (Rt3)

Total Train Resistance (RT1) = Rt1 + Rt2 + Rt3