Points to Remember - Railways

1. The centre of gravity of the rail section must lie at mid-height so, maximum tensile & compressive stresses are equal.
2. Maximum wear of head allowed in a rail section is 10mm.
3. Minimum tensile strength of rail should be 72 kg/mm2
4. In India, rails are manufactured by open hearth or duplex process and tested by falling weight test or tup test.
5. Rails having unit weight per meter of 52 kg/m or 60 kg/m are used in Indian railways
6. When the wear of head exceeds 5% of total weight the rail has to be replaced.
7. Flat footed rail is also called as vignole`s rail
8. Sal and teak wood are most commonly used for railway sleeper after being preserved through creosoting. (Lifetime is
12 to 15 years)
9. Composite sleeper index measures the mechanical strength of timber CSI = (S+10H) / 20 Where S = strength index
and H = Hardness Index measured at 12% moisture content in timber, Minimum composite sleeper index prescribed
on Indian Railways for a track sleeper is 783
10. Bearing plates and spikes are used only in case of wooden sleepers.
11. Number of dog spikes normally used per rail seat on
- Straight track is – One on either side
- Curved track is – One inside, two outside
- In bridges - two outside, two inside
12. Charis and key set up are used in case of metal sleepers. Squaring of sleepers is defined as the process of adjusting
ballast under the sleeper to space them parallel to each other.
13. Steel sleepers packed with sand ballast make Silent Track.
 Points to Remember - Railways
14. Track modulus is index for stiffness or resistance to deformation of the permanent way. It is defined as load per unit
length of rail required to produce unit deformation in track. (Depends on gauge, type of rail, type and density of sleepers,
type of ballast etc. (Track modulus of BG track is 4 ton and MG track is 3 ton)
15. Contact pressure between rail and wheel is 21.6 kg/mm2
16. Maximum permitted creep in BG track is 150 mm
17. Cubic Parabola is used for transition curves in railways.
18. Gradients in station yards – 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000
19. Grade compensation on curves
- For BG track, it is 0.04% per degree of curve or 70/R, Whichever is minimum
- For MG track, It is 0.03% per degree of curve or 52.5/R, Whichever is minimum
- For NG track, it is 0.02% per degree of curve or 35/R, whichever is minimum
20. Maximum value of super-elevation is 1/10th to 1/12th of the gauge
21. Triangles and turntable are used for changing the direction of engine.
22. Traverser is used to transfer wagons or locomotives, one at a time, to and from parallel tracks without shunting.
23. Maximum wind resistance occurs when wind is acting 60* to the direction of train movement.
24. A stock of all useful materials such as rails, sleepers, fish plates, bolts etc. are permanently maintained in a godown
called as Track imprest.
25. Cant excess in BG track should not exceed 75 mm. Permissible limit of cant deficiency for Broad Gauge (B.G.) is also
75mm to 100 mm
26. Flash butt welding method is usually adopted for site welding of rails.
 Points to Remember - Railways
27. Track recording car or Amsler type is used in Indian railways to record and check the geometric parameters of track.
(Unevenness, gauge, twist or skew of super elevation)
28. Feelers are used to measure gauge and curvature of the railway track.
29. Super-elevation is measured by gyroscopic pendulum.
30. Viseur`s Mire – Measuring unevenness of rail.

In Points and crossings (Kindly google the terms and see the images while studying)
1. Tongue rail – is tapered having toe and heel
2. Stock rail – it is the straight rail against which the tongue rails fits
3. Wing rail – Helps in channelizing the wheels in the proper routes.
4. Heel divergence – Distance between running faces of stock rail and tongue rail at the heel of switch. (For BG track – 13.3
cm to 13.7 cm)
5. Flangeway clearance – Distance between adjacent faces of check rail and stock rail.
6. Throw of switch – The maximum distance by which the toe of tongue rail moves side ways.
7. In India Cole`s Method is used to represent the crossing angle.
8. Gaunleted track – No switches are provided.
 Tools used for maintenance
Points to Remember - Railways
of tracks
1. Shovel or ballast fork – for handling ballast
2. Crow bars – to raise sleepers to desired height
3. Spliced rail – to find the difference in the elevation of outer and inner rail
4. Cant board – to check super elevation on curves
5. Rail tongs – to lift and carry rails
6. Claw bar – to remove dog spikes out of sleepers
7. Sleeper tongs – to lift sleeper
8. Viseur`s Mire – helpful in measuring the unevenness of the rails also used
for rectification of track alignment
9. Mallet – to check the sleepers for packed
10. Jim crow – to bend or break rails.
Points to Remember - Railways
 Points to Remember - Railways
Here is an activity for you
1. Number of railways zones in Indian railways –
2. First rail route –
3. Longest rail route –
4. Steepest gradient rail route –
5. Approximate number of employees in Indian railways –
6. Longest railway passenger platform is in –
7. Present Railway Minister –
8. Approx. Total railway length in India -
9. Approx. Total railway length in Tamil Nadu –
10. Worlds largest railway network is in which country ?
 Points to Remember - Tunnelling
Methods of Tunnelling in rock strata Methods of Tunnelling in soft strata
1. Full face method 1. Fore polling method - Old method
2. Heading and benching method 2. Needle beam method – Economical method
3. Drift method 3. Belgium method – Popular method
4. Pilot tunnelling method 4. American method – Best for Railway and highway tunnel
5. English method – Involves lot of timber
6. Army method – Best for underground sewers
7. German method

Most Efficient ventilation system in tunnelling is combination of

both blower and exhaust system.
 Points to Remember - Airport
1. Direction of wind should be opposite to the direction of landing and take-off.
2. Calm period – percentage of time when Wind velocity less than 6.4 kmph
3. Runway marking is in white colour, and lights also white in colour.
4. Taxiway marking is in yellow colour, and lights are in blue colour.
5. MSL of airport is taken as the RL of highest point in the landing area of the airport.\

Organizations related to Aviation.

1. IATA - THE INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION - 1945
2. ICAO – INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION - 1947
3. FAA – FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION - 1958
4. AAI – AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF INDIA – 1995
5. DGCA - Directorate General of Civil Aviation
 Points to Remember - Airport
Here is an activity for you
1. Number of International and domestic airports in India
2. Number of International and domestic airport in TN
3. Largest airport
4. Highest located airport
5. Busiest airport
6. India`s Oldest airport
7. TN`s oldest airport
 Points to Remember - Airport
1. Runway length
2. Runway width – 18m to 45m
3. Width of safety area – 150 to 300m
4. Transverse gradient for runway – should not be less than 0.5%
- 1.5% for type A,B,C
- 2% for type D,E
5. Longitudinal gradient for runway – 1.5% for type A,B,C
- 2% for type D,E
6. Gate capacity – defined by aircraft parking space available to accommodate
aircraft under the condition of continuous demand.
Gate capacity = 1/weighted service time.
7. Width of taxiway – 7.5m to 22.5m
8. Longitudinal gradient for taxiway – 1.5 to 3%
9. Transverse gradient for taxiway – 1.5 to 2%
 Points to Remember – Port and Harbour
1. Roadstead - A roadstead is a protected area of water where boats can move safely
2. Litoral drift – Littoral drift, also known as longshore drift, is the natural movement of
sand, pebbles, and shingle along a coast in a direction parallel to the shoreline. –
Phenomenon behind beach formation.
3. Harbour depth
- Maximum depth = loaded draft + 1.2 m (Soft bottom)
- Maximum depth = Loaded draft + 1.8 m (Rock bottom)
4. Minimum dia of turning basin = 2 to 4 times of length of largest ship.
5. Fathometer is used for finding depth underwater in oceans. (Echo-sounding is modern
method)
6. Beam of vessel means – width of vessel.
7. If H is the height of the wave expected, then the height of the breakwater is generally
taken as 1.2 H to 1.25 H above the high water level.
Points to Remember – Port and Harbour
 Points to Remember – Port and Harbour
Here is an activity for you
1. Number of Major and minor ports in India
2. Number of Major and minor ports in TN
3. Largest Port
4. Busiest Port
5. India`s Oldest Port
6. TN`s oldest Port
7. 1 nautical mile = _____KM