Canron, Inc.

Charles A Shupe

Helmuth Von Beckmann

John Kenneth Stewart

An improved technique for correcting errors in track, for example errors in alignment and cross-level. A record of the actual geometric condition of a section of track is obtained by running a recording car operating at a predetermined speed and axle loading over the track. A record which may be on magnetic tape is thus obtained for one or more parameters such as alignment. In some cases this record may be used directly to derive electrical error signals which control a track moving device which moves the track in a direction to remove the error. Where the parameter of interest is alignment and the section of track is curved, a desired geometric condition has to be obtained for comparison with the actual geometric condition to derive the electrical error signals. One way of obtaining the desired geometric condition is to process the record to achieve a running average taken over ten or so consecutive sample points.

Dynamic loading correcting device

A technique for heat treating the upper surface of the head of an in situ rail is disclosed. A car carrying an induction heater followed by an air quencher and then an air and water quencher is passed along the track. In this way the upper surface of the rail head passes through successive stages of heating from ambient temperature, austenization, hardening, tempering and cooling to ambient temperature thus bringing about desired hardening of the rail head. The tendency of the rail to bend concave upwardly due to this heat treatment is counteracted by applying an upward mechanical force to the rail to tend to bend the rail in the opposite direction i.e. concave downwardly. The mechanical force is applied by a lifting mechanism carried on the rail car, the lifting mechanism progressively bending the rail simultaneously with the heat treatment.

Rail hardening machine and method

A track aligning device for monitoring the curvature of a track and adjusting the track successively to correct the curvature incorporates three rods mounted on a car or cars running on the track and pivotably connected together, the rods defining three chords each extending between a pair of spaced points located on the track center line. The angle between the first rods is measured by a transducer which derives a voltage dependent on the magnitude and direction of the angle. This voltage is sampled at equal intervals, say two meters, as the aligning device passes along the track. The voltages are summed and averaged electrically and a voltage equivalent to the mean angle between the first two rods is obtained. The angle between the second two rods is measured by a second transducer which derives a voltage equivalent to the actual angle at a particular position of the track. This voltage is compared electrically with the mean voltage and an error voltage is derived and used to operate a servo-assisted aligning mechanism to adjust the track to the left or right as necessary. The device can also adjust the superelevation of the track to meet the necessary value as computed on the basis of curvature and speed.

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Beaconsfield, Canada

Charles A Shupe