Second year Diploma Engineering (I-scheme)

Project

“POINTS AND CROSSING IN RAILWAY TRACK”

Submitted By

Miss. Gurav Samruddhi R

Mr. Jadhav Shubham

Miss. Nangare Madhuri N.

Miss. Patil Sanika S.

Miss. Nadaf Suhana M.

Under the guidance of

Ms. .Pooja Dhijare

(Department of Civil Engineering)

Govt. polytechnic karad

Govt. Polytechnic, Karad. 1

 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that, as part of the partial fulfillment of the three year
diploma course for the semester first, the bonafied student studying in
second year diploma (civil), I scheme.

Miss. Gurav Samruddhi R, Mr. Jadhav Shubham, Miss. Nangare Madhuri

N., Miss. Patil Sanika S., Miss. Nadaf Suhana M. have completed the
project report titled “Points and crossing in railway track” for the subject
Railway and Bridge Engineering under the guidance of Ms. Pooja Dhijare
. And submitted it to department of civil engineering, Govt. Polytechnic,
Karad. The information presented in this project report has not been
submitted earlier.

Prof. S. V. Sakhalkar Ms. Pooja Dhijare

Head of civil department

Date:

Place: Govt. Polytechnic, Karad.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We take it is an opportunity to thank all those who have directly and
indirectly inspired and directed and assisted us towards successful
completion of this project report.

We express our sincere thanks to the Principal Dr. R.K. Patil and the
Head of Civil Department, Prof. S.T. Sakhalkar, for having us allowed to
submit this report as part of our academics learning.

We express our sincere thanks to Ms. Pooja Dhijare, Lecturer in Railway

and Bridge Construction. Govt. Polytechnic Karad for his encouragement
throughout this project report and guideline in designing and working out
this project.

We are also grateful to team of “Points and crossing inRailway track” for
their highly encouraging and co-operative attitude. We express our sense
of gratitude towards our friend and parents for their constant moral
support during project report.

Yours Sincerely,

Miss. Gurav Samruddhi (1102)

Mr. Jadhav Shubham(1103)

Miss. Nangare Madhuri N.(1104)

Miss. Patil Sanika S. (1105)

Miss. Nadaf Suhana M. (1106)

Place: Govt. Polytechnic, Karad.

Date:

Govt. Polytechnic, Karad. 3

Aims of the project:

1. To study about railway track.

2. To study about components of railway track.
3. To study the way and maintenance of railway track.
4. To study about components of railway track.

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 General

Railway Track

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is

the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers)
and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. It
enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for
their wheels to roll upon. For clarity it is often referred to as railway
track or railroad track.

Basically Rail Track constitutes of:-

 Rails
 Sleepers
 Fixtures & Fastenings
 Ballast
 Formation or sub grade
 Subsoil
 Sub-Ballast

1.2 Objectives

 To study the Rail track in brief.

 To study the components of the rail track.
 To analyses the characteristics of the rail track.
 To prepare model of cross section of rail track.

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 1.3 Course Outcomes

 Identify the components of railway track.

 Maintain the railway track.
 Maintain different components of railway track.

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 CHAPTER-2
LITERATURE REVIEW
“RAILWAY ENGINEERING”

- Rangwala S. C.

Since their invention, railroads have played a huge role in further

developing civilizations around the world. From ancient Greece to
modern-day America, railroads have changed the way humans travel and
work.

The earliest form of "railroads" actually dates

back to 600 B.C. The Greeks made grooves in paved limestone roads so
that they could use wheeled vehicles to ease transport of boats across the
Isthmus of Corinth. However, with the fall of Greece to Rome in 146
B.C., these early railways fell into ruin and disappeared for over 1,400
years. Not until the 16th century would the first modern rail transport
system make reappearance—and then it was another three centuries
before the steam locomotive was invented—but this unique form of
transportation truly changed the world. 

The first railway tracks were laid down in the eighteenth

century for horse drawn trains of wagons in collieries and quarries. This
hauling way initially had a surface of stone slabs or timber baulks which
proved unsatisfactory as loads grew heavier. As the industrial revolution
progressed the idea was further developed by adding wrought iron plates
to reduce wear of wooden baulks. This evolved further first to cast iron
plates and later to edge rails, enabling for the first time the use of
formation beds.

Today most of the railway track having rolling stock with

hard steel flanged wheels running on two rails set at or about 1432mm
standard gauge, supported in some way to spread loads to the ground
below. ‘Subgrade’ is the term used for the natural soil strata or
embankment soil, after trimming off organic topsoil and made ground,
upon which the track bed is constructed.

Early railway engineers did not at first realize the important

engineering functions carried out by the ballast, as outlined above.
Because of the all manner of material was used beneath the sleepers
which today would be considered completely unsuitable. This included
materials which would be cheaply and easily available locally.

Govt. Polytechnic, Karad. 7

Experience soon showed that good quality, ballast, made of well graded
gravel, limestone or igneous rock was necessary if adequate foundation
and good drainage is to be achieved for a reasonable period. Additionally
it was found that, even with good quality crushed material , the presence
of a high proportion of fines in track ballast can result in silting up and
softening of adjacent and supporting materials thus causing track
settlement and drainage long term pressure.

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 CHAPTER-3

INTRODUCTION
The railway track constitutes the combination of
ballast; rails & fixtures. It consists of a pair of rails fixed to sleepers
which rest on ballast. First of all, ballast is laid on formation and then
sleepers are placed according to rail positions and alignment required and
then they are packed or fixed with fastening. The main purpose of
permanent way is to provide safe and quick movement between starting
and destination station. Similar to permanent way, temporary tracks are
also laid for temporary work and then they are removed after completion
of work.

Fig. C/S of railway track.

3.1 SUB-SOIL/NATURAL GROUND:-

The subsoil or ground level in the railway tack is nothing
but the plain ground surface where the entire railway track is setup, rails
and fastenings are rested for railway traffic movement.
Subsoil is the extreme base of railway track, all the load
carrying from vehicles is transmitted to one layer to another and which is
finally bearded by the subsoil. It just acts as foundation of structure as a
foundation to railway track. Basically at the time of choosing of the land
for lying of the rail track, the suitable land should be chosen taking into
consideration all the factors such as type of soil it contains, water table of
the ground.so importantly Subsoil is the main component of the rail track.
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3.2 SUB-GRADE:-
In transport engineering, Subgrade is the native material
underneath a constructed road. Subgrades are commonly compacted
before the construction of a road, pavement or railway track, and are
sometimes stabilized by the addition of asphalt, lime, Portland cement or
other modifiers. The subgrade is the foundation of the pavement
structure, on which the sub base is laid.
The load-bearing strength of subgrade is measured by California
Bearing Ratio (CBR) test, falling weight deflect to meter back
calculations and other methods. Subgrade can also refer to imported
material that has been used to build an embankment.
3.3 BALLAST:-

Track ballast forms the track bed upon which railroad ties

(sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is
used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water,
and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track
structure. This also serves to hold the track in place as the trains roll by. It
is typically made of crushed stone, although ballast has sometimes
consisted of other, less suitable materials, for example burnt clay. The
term "ballast" comes from a nautical term for the stones used to stabilize
a ship. Good quality track ballast is made of crushed stone. The sharp
edges help the particles interlock with each other.

Ballast on rail track

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3.4 SLEEPERS:-

Railway sleepers, also called railroad ties, railway ties or

crossties, are an important railway component. Generally, the rail sleeper
is always lying between two rail tracks to keep the correct space of gauge.

Having been developed for more than one hundred years, the railway ties
need to meet the different requirements of the various railway tracks. In
the past time, railroad ties were usually made of wood and had continued
for about 50 years.

In recent times, steel sleepers mostly handle heavy loads and can be
designed to suit different rail track specifications. Weighing the same as
timber, steel sleeper can replace wood sleepers and be used on a ballasted
bridge, providing a more durable and stronger solution without increasing
bridge load.

Steel sleeper advantages:

 Easy to install and manufacture

 Handle more weight

Disadvantages:

 Sensitive to the chemical attacks

 Hard to maintain
 Low transverse resistance

3.5 RAILS AND FASTENINGS:-

All those fittings which are required for connecting the rails end
to end and for fixing the rails to the sleepers in a track are known as
fixtures and fastenings. 
They include -
1) Fish plates
2) Spikes
3) Bolts
4) Chairs
5) Keys
6) Blocks
7) Bearing plates
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  FISH PLATES: These plates are used to maintain proper
alignment of the rail line. They maintain the continuity of the rails
and also allow expansion or contraction of rails caused due to
temperature variations.

 SPIKES: They are used to hold the rails to the wooden sleeper. A

good spike should have following qualities :
1) It should have sufficient strength to hold the rail in position.
2) It should help in maintaining proper gauge.
3) It should be easy to fix and replace from the sleepers.

 BOLTS : They are used for connecting :

1) Fish plates to the rails at each rail joint.
2) Chairs or bearing plates to timber sleepers.
3) Sleepers to bridge girders,etc

 KEYS:  They are small tapered pieces of timber or steel to connect

rails to chairs on metal sleepers.
Types of keys generally used are:
1) Timber keys
2) Metal keys
3) Stuart's keys
4) Morgan keys

3.6 MAINTANENCE OF A RAILWAY TRACK:-

 Definition of Track Maintenance 6 It is the overhauling of track

periodically with the object of restoring it to its best possible condition
in which it can serve all the requirements of a good track

Need of Track Maintenance:-

1 Due to the constant movement of heavy and high-speed trains, the

packing under the sleepers becomes loose and track geometry gets
disturbed. The gauge, alignment, and longitudinal as well as cross levels
of the track thus get affected adversely.

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2. Due to the vibrations and impact of high-speed trains, the fittings of
the track come undone and there is heavy wear and tear of the track
and its components.

3. The track and its components get worn out as a result typical climatic
conditions.

Advantages of Track Maintenance:-

 Higher speed of trains is achieved.
 Gives pleasant ride to passengers without giving any noisy
sounds.
 Provides safe and smooth running of trains.
 Reduces operational costs and fuel consumption up to 20 – 30
%.
 Life Time of track increases.

Characteristics of Good Track:-

 Fittings and Fastenings must be firmly fixed.

 Track drainage should be good.
 The ballast should be adequate and the sleepers should be
well packed.
 Longitudinal levels should be uniform.
 The alignment should be straight and kink-free.
 There should be no difference in cross levels except on
curves.
 The gauge should be correct or within the specified limits.

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 CHAPTER-4
CONCLUSION
1. We conclude that we gained total knowledge about rail track
2. We learned about its components and their structural theory.
3. We analyzed the ways and need of track maintenance.
4. We visually came across all the components of the Railway Track
in brief.

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 CHAPTER-5
REFERENCESS

 E-book named ‘’Practical Railway Engineering”

 Bonnet, Clifford F. (2005). Practical Railway
Engineering (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Imperial College
Press. ISBN 978-1-86094-515-1. OCLC 443641662.
 www.google.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.railwaytrack.com
 Rangwala S. C. charotar publishing house

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