For the vertical alignment of a track, see Track geometry § Alignment.
Rail from 1896 showing manufacturer's name and specification formed onto the web of rail during rolling.Cross-sections of flat-bottomed rail which can rest directly on the sleepers, and bullhead rails which sit in chairs (not shown).Early rails in USSection of the Translohr guidance rail (during the Clermont-Ferrand installation in 2006)
The rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to its length.
Early rails were made of wood, cast iron or wrought iron. All modern rails are hot rolled steel with a cross section (profile) approximate to an I-beam, but asymmetric about a horizontal axis (however see grooved rail below). The head is profiled to resist wear and to give a good ride, and the foot profiled to suit the fixing system.
Unlike some other uses of iron and steel, railway rails are subject to very high stresses and are made of very high quality steel. It took many decades to improve the quality of the materials, including the change from iron to steel. Minor flaws in the steel that may pose no problems in other applications can lead to broken rails and dangerous derailments when used on railway tracks.
By and large, the heavier the rails and the rest of the track work, the heavier and faster the trains these tracks can carry.
Rails represent a substantial fraction of the cost of a railway line. Only a small number of rail sizes are made by steelworks at one time, so a railway must choose the nearest suitable size. Worn, heavy rail from a mainline is often reclaimed and downgraded for re-use on a branch line, siding or yard.
The railprofile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to its length. Early rails were made of wood, cast iron or wrought iron...
A railgrinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend...
gauge is a two-dimensional profile that encompasses a cross-section of the track, a rail vehicle and a maximum-sized load: all rail vehicles and their loads...
paper in offset printing Web, the vertical element of an I-beam or a railprofile Web, the interior beams of a truss Web (2013 film), a documentary Webs...
Power supply rail or voltage rail, a single voltage provided by a power supply unit Railprofile, the cross sectional shape of a railway rail Railing (disambiguation)...
indicate deviations. The vertical alignment (or profile in North America, but not to be confused with railprofile) is the surface uniformity in the vertical...
re-profiled with rail grinding machines to maintain the safe and proper railprofile. Rails that cannot be brought back to the proper railprofile are...
Block rail is a lower profile form of girder guard rail, where the web is eliminated. In profile it is more like a solid form of bridge rail with a flangeway...
unreliable. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train, limiting the voltage that could be used, and...
The Light Rail Transit Line 2, also known as LRT Line 2, LRT-2 or Megatren, is a heavy rail rapid transit line in Metro Manila in the Philippines, generally...
management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected. Track geometry cars emerged in the 1920s when rail traffic became sufficiently dense...
compares the rail to a pre-determined profile in order to identify damage. Each rail is identified using its Differential GPS location. The rail inspection...
a profile, before being installed onto an axle. All wheel profiles are regularly checked to ensure proper interaction between the wheel and the rail. Incorrectly...
dovetail rail usually refer to any straight mounting bracket with an inverted trapezoid (dovetail) cross-section (though the hexagonal-profiled Weaver rail and...
enterprise Operation Blue Star Original British Standard, a bullhead railprofile OBSS (disambiguation) This disambiguation page lists articles associated...
conductor railprofile at the transition end section before it is terminated at the portal. There is a gap between the overhead conductor rail at the transition...
1920s on the German Reichsbahn. The first step was to have different railprofile for the stock rails and switch rails, with the switch rails being about...
models (but particularly older models), and these require overscale railprofile and much larger clearances on pointwork than is prototypical. Pointwork...
The history of rail transport in Germany can be traced back to the 16th century. The earliest form of railways, wagonways, were developed in Germany in...
view Side view Rear view Seams of carbon fiber shell Profile at a side railProfile at the center rail Levitating chassis at the bottom inside the shell...
trolley in the United States and Canada) is a type of urban rail transit consisting of a rail vehicle, either individual railcars or self-propelled trains...
Tee (T-shaped cross-section) Railprofile (asymmetrical I-beam) Railway rail Vignoles rail Flanged T rail Grooved rail Bar, a long piece with a rectangular...
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