A TRACK CURVATURE MEASURING SYSTEM AND ITS APPLICATION

A track curvature measuring system has been designed and installed in the Department of Transportation's rail test car by ENSCO, Inc. The system employs an inertial rate-of-turn gyroscope to measure the yaw rate of the car, an axle-driven tachometer to measure speed, and velocity transducers to measure the relative motions between the car and the trucks. An analog circuit receives these inputs and performs the curvature computation. The system is capable of making continuous curvature measurement at any speed greater than 3 mph at either direction of travel. The system performance and various applications of the data are demonstrated. Schemes for detecting undesirable superelevation and curvature mismatches are discussed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contributed by the Intersociety Committee on Transportation for presentation at the Intersociety Conference on Transportation, Denver, Colo., Sept. 23-27, 1973.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Macintyre, S A
  • May, J T
• Publication Date: 1973-9

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Curvature; Data collection; Railroad tracks; Standards; Systems of measurement
• Old TRIS Terms: Curvature measuring systems; Track standards
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00051535
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Report/Paper Numbers: 73-ICT-110 Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 9 1976 12:00AM