A general methodology for fatigue reliability degradation of railroad wheels is proposed in this paper. Both fatigue crack initiation and crack propagation life are included in the proposed methodology using previously developed multiaxial fatigue models by the same authors. A response surface method in conjunction with design of experiments is used to develop a closed form approximation of the...

T H E AMENDMENTS to the Railroad Ret irement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts, approved on July 31, 1 not only give railroad workers the most comprehensive system of social insurance i n the United States, i n terms of risks covered, but provide the first major, i f par t ia l , extension of the coverage of old-age and survivors insurance since the Social Security Act Amendments of 1939...

BACKGROUND An association between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer mortality in a large retrospective cohort study of US railroad workers has previously been reported. However, specific information regarding cigarette smoking was unavailable. METHODS Birth cohort, age, job, and cause of death specific smoking histories from a companion case-control study were used to impute smoking beh...

North American railroads are experiencing growth in traffic demand and increasingly need to expand capacity on their lines; this will require changes in the mode of operation and infrastructure. Infrastructure expansion requires long lead times and is capital-intensive. Alternatively, some additional capacity may be achieved by alteration of the mode of operation which is often less expensive a...

This paper describes the development and use of a model designed to optimise train schedules on single line rail corridors. The model has been developed with two major applications in mind, namely: as a decision support tool for train dispatchers to schedule trains in real time in an optimal way; and as a planning tool to evaluate the impact of timetable changes, as well as railroad infrastruct...

® The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. This research was aimed at developing a procedure to determine the existi...

During 2000-2001, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Ocean Modeling and Prediction Division of the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), constructed tidal gages at the East Pearl River at CSX Railroad near Claiborne, Mississippi, at the Rigolets at CSX Railroad near Rigolets, Louisiana, and at the Chef Menteur Pass at CSX Railroad at Chef Menteur, Louisiana, to co...

A field survey was begun in 1986 to determine the status of prairie vegetation on railroad rights-of-way in Wisconsin. Two % of 849 sample points located at 1.6 km intervals along railroads were found to contain relatively high quality prairie, and 23 % contained slightly degraded prairie. A significant proportion of these remnants contained mesic prairie, a community type which today is almost...

A number of economic, technical and political factors have limited the development of new, dedicated, very-high-speed rail systems in North America. Consequently, most, near-term development of improved or expanded passenger rail service in the U.S. will involve use of existing railroad infrastructure or rights of way. Comprehensive understanding of train accidents on shared-use corridors is cr...

It is widely known that the railroad diesel locomotive engines emit significant amount of air pollutants. However, these engines are not equipped with any air pollutants reducing devices in Korea, resulting in the accumulative air pollution near the railroad. Because the pollutants emission from driving locomotive engines cannot be measured directly, the emission factors based on the amount of ...