Railroad - Interlocking, Routing, Signaling

railroad

Table of Contents

Introduction
Cars
- Freight cars
- Passenger cars
  - Brake systems
  - Automatic body tilting
  - Cars for daytime service
  - Cars for overnight travel
Railroad track and roadway
- Location and construction
- Rail
  - Rail fittings
  - Sleepers (crossties)
  - Track maintenance
- Auxiliary plant
  - Bridges
  - Buildings
  - Tunnels
Railroad operations and control
- Communications
  - Radio
  - Computers
- Signaling
  - Types of signals
  - Automated systems
  - Interlocking and routing
- The marshaling yard
Intermodal freight vehicles and systems
- Development
- Operations
- Passenger intermodals
Railroad history
- Source in inland water transport
- Early European railroads
  - The Stockton and Darlington Railway
  - The Liverpool and Manchester Railway
  - Characteristics of British railroads
  - The railroad in continental Europe
- Early American railroads
  - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
  - Boston railroads
  - The South Carolina Railroad
- North American railroads in the late 19th and 20th centuries
  - American railroads
    - Expansion into the interior
    - The transcontinental railroad
    - Advances in traction systems
    - Railway company mergers
  - Canadian railroads
Modern railways
- Diesel-electric locomotion and electronic systems
- Growth in developing countries
- High-speed passenger lines
  - Japan
  - Western Europe
  - South Korea, Taiwan, and China
  - North America
- Maglev

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Learn about the American railroad history and the California State Railroad Museum

bridge on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad

For Students

railroad summary

Read Next

The exterior of the Victoria terminus railway station, Mumbai, India. (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, UNESCO World Heritage site)

5 Transit Stations Worth Seeing

Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting

Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?

A pet macaw. Large colourful parrot native to tropical America. Bird, companionship, bird, beak, alert, squawk. For AFA new year resolution.

Majestic sequoias in Sequoia National Park. (trees; sunlight; forest; conifers; sequoia tree)

Saving the World’s Largest Trees

New York city skyline aerial with the Empire State Building, New York City, New York.

13 Iconic Buildings to Visit in New York City

Discover

Adolf Hitler (Nazi, nazism, German leader).

9 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler

How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

United States Electoral College votes by state

How Many Electoral College Votes Does Each U.S. State Have?

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.

How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?

The first attempts at interlocking switches and signals were made in France in 1855 and in Britain in 1856. Interlocking at crossings and junctions prevents the displaying of a clear signal for one route when clearance has already been given to a train on a conflicting route. Route-setting or route-interlocking systems are modern extensions of this principle. With them the signaling operator or dispatcher can set up a complete route through a complicated track area by simply pushing buttons on a control panel. Most interlockings employ electrical relays, but adoption of computer-based solid-state interlocking began in Europe and Japan in ...(100 of 20134 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.