Railroad

Railroad

A railroad is a means of wheeled transportation for moving people and goods. Railroads are tracks on which trains can tow cars behind an engine.

Industry: Railways

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Railroad

Suface runoff

Railways; Railroad

The grade through which the raised portion of a track is connected with the old grade. It generally includes the two rails and is made at a long easy slope for comfort and safety.

Duck-under

Railways; Railroad

A means of getting into a central operating area of a layout not having a lifting section. May be padded on the underside of the baseboard to lessen the impact when you try to stand up too soon.

Superelevation

Railways; Railroad

The height the outer rail is raised above the inner or grade rail, on curves, to resist the centrifugal force of moving trains. This should not be confused with cross level, on tangent (straight) ...

Supported and suspended joints

Railways; Railroad

A supported rail joint has a tie directly under the rail joint. A suspended joint is one in which ends of the rail joint are carried by two consecutive ties.

Surface of track

Railways; Railroad

The condition of a track as to vertical evenness or smoothness over short distances.

Electric locomotive

Railways; Railroad

A locomotive powered by an electric motor. Electricity is supplied either by overhead wires or via an additional rail near the running rails. This extra rail is called the conductor rail.

Switch

Railways; Railroad

A pair of movable track rails, with their fastenings and operating rods, providing a connexion over which to move rolling stock from one track to another. Also called split switch.