To help the wheels stay on the track their shape is usually slightly conical. This means that the inside of the wheel has a larger circumference than the outside of the wheel. (They also have a flange, or raised edge, on the inner side to prevent the train from falling off the tracks.)
The wheel bevels are specifically designed so that when the train goes around a corner it stays on the tracks. The wheels that have to travel a greater distance have a greater diameter, and everything stays aligned. The end result is a train that stays on the tracks.
These conical wheels can allow the train to slide sideways slightly to make up for the difference in distances between the two tracks. Thus, trains stay axled, with the wheels on both sides of the train rotating at the same speed, and are still able to go around curves.
In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially serious hazard.
Locomotives are equipped with a plow in front to push snow away from the tracks. But when the snow is too deep for the locomotive plow to handle, railroads use on-track machinery, massive bulldozers and specialized cars that can move tons of snow at once.
Never dump salt directly on railroad crossings. Salt causes circuitry wiring to short out, causing malfunctions to the lights and gates.
Most trains don't have sewage tanks so anything in the toilet is dumped straight onto the tracks.
It is not easy to derail a train by force or collision, but derailments are the most common type of train accident.
Equipment failures are increasingly responsible for derailments, and problems with equipment and train tracks accounted for nearly 60% of derailments nationwide last year. The number of derailments among major freight railroads has fallen sharply since 2000, data shows.
In 2022, there were more than 1,000 train derailments in the U.S. There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. That means the country is averaging roughly three derailments per day.
One way to prevent train derailments is making sure train wheels and bearings (the component that keeps wheels turning smoothly) don't overheat. Railroads do this by installing sensors along their tracks that assess the strength and health of wheels and bearings passing over them.
Trains cannot collide with each other if they are not permitted to occupy the same section of track at the same time, so railway lines are divided into sections known as blocks. In normal circumstances, only one train is permitted in each block at a time. This principle forms the basis of most railway safety systems.
In North America, equipment for unlimited interchange between railway companies is built to accommodate for a 288-foot (87.8 m) radius, but normally a 410-foot (125.0 m) radius is used as a minimum, as some freight carriages (freight cars) are handled by special agreement between railways that cannot take the sharper ...
Pavements, stairs, metal railway tracks and platform surfaces can get really slippery in wet or frosty weather, so be sure to leave plenty of time to catch your train or cross the tracks.
While modern trains won't litter the tracks with human excrement, the traditional method did just that. This is what was known as a hopper toilet. It could either be a simple hole in the floor (also known as a drop chute toilet) or a full-flush system.
Trains are powered by electricity carried through overhead lines or a conductor rail, sometimes called the third rail. The third rail has 750 volts passing through it. That's enough to kill or seriously injure you if you step on it.
The horn alerts people that a train is approaching a railroad crossing. It can also be used to warn animals or trespassers in our right-of-way along a section of track.
The latest strikes by Aslef members are part of a lengthy dispute with the government and train companies over pay and conditions. Aslef said its negotiating team has met representatives of the employers on eight occasions over the past year to try to find a resolution.
Common Train Accidents
The most common type of train accidents which occur each year are train derailments followed by train collisions.
Although fatalities are not as common, serious injuries in train crashes happen abundantly. According to Statista, you have a one in 243,756 chance of dying in a train crash as a passenger.
Depends how big the rock is. Pieces of the ballast that the tracks are laid on sometimes end up on the rails. Generally they get crushed or spat out.
Running through a switch in the wrong direction can damage the switch. Operating through a damaged switch can derail the train.
The traditional method of disposing human waste from trains is to deposit the waste onto the tracks or, more often, onto nearby ground, using what is known as a hopper toilet. This ranges from a hole in the floor to a full-flush system (possibly with sterilization).
Most would throw up their hands and race to the nearest toilet. Unfortunately, loco pilots of superfast trains of the Indian Railways have no such luxury. These loco pilots, vital to the smooth running of trains, have no access to toilets during their long journeys, which stretch to as long as five hours, non-stop.
There is generally at least one toilet every four carriages.