Railroad - Track, Locomotives, History

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

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The modern railroad rail has a flat bottom, and its cross section is much like an inverted T. An English engineer, Charles Vignoles, is credited with the invention of this design in the 1830s. A similar design also was developed by Robert L. Stevens, president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the United States. Present-day rail is, in appearance, very similar to the early designs of Vignoles and Stevens. Actually, however, it is a highly refined product in terms of both engineering and metallurgy. Much study and research have produced designs that minimize internal stresses under the weight of ...(100 of 20134 words)

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