Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

Brian Eric Smith

Alan Lee Polivka

Jerome J Malone, Jr

Steven Mark Renfrow

A method is provided for detecting broken rail, unintentionally misaligned turnouts, and track occupancy ahead of or behind a railway vehicle traveling on a railroad track. Shunts extend between the rails at intervals along the railroad track. Each shunt has electrical signal transmission characteristics differing from those of adjacent shunts. A test unit on the railway vehicle induces a test signal in a first rail to create a track circuit in which the test signal propagates along the first rail, through at least one of the shunts, returns to the railway vehicle along the second rail, and through the wheels and axle of the railway vehicle. The test signal has electrical properties selected to interact with at least one of the shunts. The received test signal on the second rail is analyzed to identify predetermined conditions concerning the status of the railroad track.

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Pueblo West, CO, United States of America

Brian Eric Smith