Name: How do rail turnouts work?
Uploaded: 2024-04-10T04:07:54.682Z
Duration: 247.7
Description: Discover the crucial role of rail turnouts with Mark Fulford, General Manager at Salix Products. Learn how regular maintenance and innovative technologies ensure safety and efficiency on the tracks, while exploring exciting advancements like remote condition monitoring for predictive maintenance.

Main Mark 2.mp4

Main Mark.vtt

Subtitles

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Yep so rail turnouts are

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probably one of the most critical

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parts of the track network.

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They're also one of

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the most complex parts.

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They're generally made

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up of three sections.

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So you've got a switch panel, a

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closure panel, and a crossing panel.

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the switch panel's purpose is to direct

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the train from one track to the next.

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So whether it's in a straight line

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through the main line or around

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the curve through the through road.

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So the switches consist of two parts

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which move which the points operation

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attaches to which drives them.

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And then you come from the switch

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through the closures which then turns

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the track from two rails to four rails

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and then finally you come through the

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crossing where the two rails cross

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over each other and the vehicle will

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then go the one way or the other.

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Okay so the role of the points

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machine is to drive the switchblades

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in the direction they need to be

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set for the movement of the train.

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The points machine provides a linear

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motion which moves the switchblades

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from the left to the right.

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We call this either the

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normal or the reverse.

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If it's one side then the train

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will go in a straight line.

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If it's to the other side the

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train will go around a corner.

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But the points machine also detects

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which side the switches are set which

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is critical from a safety point of view.

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And it also combines into our signaling

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system as well so it will tell us

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which routes are set on the network.

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As I said turnouts are a

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very safety critical part.

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There's also very high

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forces going into turnouts.

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Essentially you've got trains

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travelling at you know 110km/h.

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So the lateral loads that's going

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around the corner can be very large.

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You get significant wear through

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a grinding action of the wheels

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especially on the curved switchblades.

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Also on the crossing noses as

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the wheel transfers from the

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wing rail to the crossing nose.

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So you get significant metal

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deformation, cracking, breaking.

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Also you can have substructure

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issues because there's such large

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loads going into the turnout

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the substructure can deform.

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And then the whole turnout can

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move and deflect, essentially

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going through a pumping motion.

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So we need to maintain that

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substructure with tamping as well.

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Turnout components should be

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inspected and maintained regularly.

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You're going to need to do

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basically regular routine

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inspections, track walks.

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You can go through specialist

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track measuring equipment.

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You're looking for fundamental sort

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of signs of things like cracking

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and etcetera to the material.

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But you want to be picking that

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up early in the in the piece.

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And then you've got a chance

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to do something about it and

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prevent a problem before it

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becomes an even bigger situation.

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You can then do remedial grinding

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work which can be very basic.

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There's a lot more focus

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nowadays on trying to

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predictive maintenance as well.

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So putting sensors onto turnouts,

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being able to model that data

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and then essentially predicting

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that in six months time.

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Okay you're going to need to

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renew some of this track work

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whether it's a tamping cycle or

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potentially changing out parts.

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New technology.

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Yeah definitely that look into the

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sensing side of things and the sort

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of remote conditioning monitoring.

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And that's been more and more prevalent.

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I believe there's definitely

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new materials and stuff

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that can come into play.

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We're a little bit hamstrung by the

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standards that we have to follow and

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type approvals that we have in place.

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So look if we can adapt some

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new materials that are in use in

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other sectors that potentially

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will give us longer life cycles.

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But yeah I think a lot of the

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direction will be towards that

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remote conditioning monitoring.

Rail Turnouts

Expert Insight

Discover the crucial role of rail turnouts with Mark Fulford, General Manager at Salix Products. Learn how regular maintenance and innovative technologies ensure safety and efficiency on the tracks, while exploring exciting advancements like remote condition monitoring for predictive maintenance.