Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, in Pueblo, Colorado, has been evaluating and reporting on the evolution of premium railway crossties and fastening systems designed for heavy axle loads (HAL) since the beginning of the HAL Program in 1988. During this evaluation, suppliers have developed components that help extend the life of the ties and provide increased overall track strength and gage retention. The preliminary data presented here is for the newest crosstie and fastening system tests at Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). TTCI observations at FAST conclude that the use of stronger components may lead to different failure modes. These are often more abrupt failures, such as a component fracture, rather than gradual gage widening. The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) 14-inch tie plate and cut spike system used with wood and plastic ties performed better than elastic fastening systems used with wood ties. New designs of tie plates for use with elastic rail fasteners were successful in eliminating plate fatigue in tests at FAST. High-strength screw spikes had considerably more failures than conventional screw spikes. The high number of broken screw spikes and/or screw spike uplift in the elastic fastener test zones contributed to the loaded gage-widening degradation seen in those zones. Tie plate cutting has not been a problem in the elastic fastening test zones. Generally, plate cutting is not a predominant failure mode for ties at FAST. However, failure of components, such as screw spikes allow increased lateral translation of the tie plates and more plate cutting. All of these tests were on southern yellow pine crossties or Recycled Technologies International plastic ties. The lower density southern yellow pine ties accelerated the test results as compared to oak ties.
New Crosstie and Fastening System Test at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing. Updated Research Results
2008
4 pages
Report
No indication
English
Domestic Commerce, Marketing, & Economics , Road Transportation , Wood & Paper Products , Construction Equipment, Materials, & Supplies , Railroads , Railway crossties , Fastening systems , Heavy axle loads , Tests , Evaluation , Track strength , Gage retention , Transportation Technology Center Incorporated (TTCI) , Heavy axel loads (HAL) program , Facility for Accerated Service Testing (FAST)
Testing crosstie materials and treatment methods
Online Contents | 1994
Can crosstie service life be doubled?
Engineering Index Backfile | 1947
|IuD Bahn | 2011
|Streamlining crosstie seasoning
Engineering Index Backfile | 1939