Page 14 - Microsoft Word - Broschüre englisch.doc

Room II: Track construction

The basis of railways is the track. Even back in antiquity, vehicles ran
along stone grooves. At the time of the first steam locomotives, the first
cast iron tracks appeared in England and America. Even today the profile
of the so-called T-rails still embodies the basic shape of modern track
manufacturing. A milestone in the development of the railway track
came with the transition from cast iron to steel, because this material
greatly increased the life span of the track. The foundations and
mountings of the track, and the points technology, have undergone
permanent change. Overall the interplay between the vehicles, tracks
and signals was a major prerequisite for the technical development of
the railways.

On a narrow gauge track – with a track width of 760 mm (Bosnian track
width) – a variety of track construction tools have been assembled, such
as rail tongs, rail drills, drills for railway ties, rail gauges and a rail saw, as
well as a handcar on which the station master would travel out to the
workers on the track.
Narrow gauge railways were mainly built for cost reasons.

Today there is a large variety of track widths around the world.

A “normal” track is regarded as being 1435 mm.

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