TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Railway Engineering

Permanent way and its requirements

• Sub-grade
• Ballast
• Sleepers
• Rails
• Fixture and Fastening

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• The track or permanent way is the rail road on which trains run.
• The combination of rails, fitted on sleepers and resting on ballast and subgrade is
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called the railway track or permanent way.

• In a permanent way, the rails are joined in series by fish plates and bolts and then they
are to sleepers by different types of fastenings.
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• The sleepers properly spaced, resting on ballast, are suitably packed and boxed with
ballast.
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• The layer of ballast rests on the prepared subgrade called the formation.
• The rails act as girders to transmit the wheel load to the sleepers.
• The sleepers hold the rails in proper position with respect to the proper tilt, gauge and
level, and transmit the load from rails to the ballast.
• The ballast distributes the load over the formation and holds the sleepers in position.
• On curved tracks, super elevation is maintained by ballast and the formation is
levelled. Minimum cushion is maintained at the inner rail, while the outer rail gets
kept more ballast cushion.
• Permanent track is regarded to be semi-elastic in nature.
• There is possibility of track getting disturbed by the moving wheel loads.
• The track should be therefore be constructed and maintained keeping the requirements
of a permanent way, in view, so as to achieve higher speed and better riding qualities
with less future maintenance.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
Following are some of the basic requirements of a permanent way:
• The gauge should be correct and uniform.
• The rails should be in proper level. In a straight track, two rails must be at the same
level. On curves, the outer rail should have proper super elevation and there should be
proper transition at the junction of a straight and a curve.
• The alignment should be correct i.e., it should be free from irregularities.
• The gradient should be uniform and as gentle as possible. Any change of gradient
should be followed by a smooth vertical curve, to give smooth riding quality.
• The track should be resilient and elastic in order to adsorb shocks and vibrations of
running tracks.
• The radii and super elevation on curves should be properly designed and maintained.
• Drainage system must be perfect for enhancing safety and durability of track.
• Joints, including points and crossings which are regarded to be weakest points of the
railway track, should be properly designed and maintained.
• There should be adequate provision for easy renewals and replacements.
• The track structure should be strong, low in initial cost as well as maintenance cost.

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• The various components of track i.e., rails, fittings, sleepers, ballast and formation
must fully satisfy the requirements for which they have been provided. If any
component is lacking in fulfilling its requirements then either it should be improved or
replaced.
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Gauges and types
Gauges: The e clear horizontal distance between the inner (running) faces of the two
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rails forming a track is known as gauge

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Types of Gauges: The different types of gauges used in India are

1. Broad Gauge
2. Metre Gauge
3. Narrow Gauge
Broad Gauge : When the clear horizontal distance between the inner faces
of two parallel rails forming a track is 1676 mm the gauge is called Broad
Gauge ( B.G)
Metre Gauge : When the clear horizontal distance between the inner faces
of two parallel rails forming a track is 1000 mm the gauge is called Metre
Gauge ( M.G)
Narrow Gauge : When the clear horizontal distance between the inner faces
of two parallel rails forming a track is 762 mm or 610 mm the gauge is called
Narrow Gauge ( N.G)
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 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Typical cross sections single and double-line BG track

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

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Coning of wheels
• The distance between the inside edges of wheel flanges is generally kept less than the
gauge of the track.
• So there is a gap between the wheel flanges and running edges of the rails, nearly
equal to 1cm on either side.
• These wheels are coned at a slope of 1 in 20.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

The advantages of coning of the wheels are

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– To reduce the wear and tear of the wheel flanges and rails.
– To provide a possibility of lateral movement of the axle with its wheels.
– To prevent the wheels from slipping to some extent.
– It provides a smooth ride.
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– It helps the train to negotiate a curve smoothly.
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Tilting of rails
• Rails are tilted inward at an angle of 1 in 20 to reduce wear and tear on the rails as
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well as on the tread of the wheels.

• As the pressure of the wheel acts near the inner edge of the rail, there is heavy wear
and tear of the rail.
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• Lateral bending stresses are also created due to eccentric loading of rails.
• To reduce the wear and tear as well as lateral stresses, rails are tilted at a slope of 1 in
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20, which is also the slope of wheel cone.

Rails
• Rails on the track can be considered as steel girders for the purpose of carrying axle
loads.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

• They are made of high carbon steel to withstand wear and tear.

Types of Rails
The rails used in the construction of railway track are of following types:
1. Double headed rails (D.H Rails)

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2. Bull headed rails (B.H Rails)
3. Flat footed rails (F.F Rails)

Double headed rails

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The rail sections, whose foot and head are of same dimensions, are called Double
headed or Dumb-bell rails. In the beginning, these rails were widely used in the railway track.
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The idea behind using these rails was that when the head had worn out due to rubbing action
of wheels, the rails could be inverted and reused. But by experience it was found that their
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foot could not be used as running surface because it also got corrugated under the impact of
wheel loads. This type of rail is not in use in Indian Railways now-a day.

Bull headed rails

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The rail section whose head dimensions are more than that of their foot are called bull
headed rails. In this type of rail the head is made little thicker and stronger than the lower part
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by adding more metal to it. These rails also require chairs for holding them in position. Bull
headed rails are especially used for making points and crossings.
Merits
(i) B.H. Rails keep better alignment and provide smoother and stronger track.
(ii) These rails provide longer life to wooden sleepers and greater stability to the track.
(iii) These rails are easily removed from sleepers and hence renewal of track is easy.
Demerits
(i) B.H. rails require additional cost of iron chairs.
(ii) These rails require heavy maintenance cost.
(iii) B.H. rails are of less strength and stiffness.

Flat footed rails

The rail sections having their foot rolled to flat are called flat footed or vignole`s rails.
This type of rail was invented by Charles Vignole in 1836. It was initially thought that the flat
footed rails could by fixed directly to wooden sleepers and would eliminate chairs and keys
required for the B.H. rails. But later on, it was observed that heavy train loads caused the foot
of the rail to sink into the sleepers and making the spikes loose. To remove this defect, steel
bearing plates were used in between flat footed rails and the wooden sleeper. These rails are

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 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
most commonly used in India.
Merits
(i) F.F. rails have more strength and stiffness.
(ii) No chairs are required for holding them in position.
(iii) These rails require less number of fastenings.
(iv) The maintenance cost of track formed with F.F. rails is less.
Demerits
(i) The fittings get loosened more frequently.
(ii) These rails are not easily removed and hence renewal of track becomes difficult.
(iii) It is difficult to manufacture points and crossings by using these rails.

Functions of rails
1. Rails provide a hard, smooth and unchanging surface for passage of heavy moving
loads with a maximum friction between the steel rails and steel wheels.
2. Rails bear the stresses developed due to heavy vertical loads, lateral and braking
forces and thermal stresses.
3. The rail material used is such that it gives minimum wear to avoid replacement

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charges and failures of rails due to wear.
4. Rails transmit the loads to sleepers and consequently reduce pressure on ballast and
formation below.
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Requirements of Rails
1. They should be of proper composition of steel and should be manufactured by open
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fireplace or duplex process.
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2. The vertical stiffness should be high enough to transmit the load to several sleepers
underneath. The height of rail should therefore adequate.
3. Rails should be capable of withstanding lateral forces. Large width of head and foot
endows the rails with high lateral stiffness.
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4. The head must be sufficiently deep to allow for an adequate margin of vertical wear.
The wearing surface should be hard.
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5. Web of rails should be sufficiently thick to bear the load coming on it and should
provide adequate flexural rigidity.
6. Foot should be wide enough so that rails are stable against overturning especially on
curves.
7. Bottom of the head and top of the foot of rails should be so shaped as to enable the
fish plates to transmit the vertical load efficiently from the head to the foot at rail
joints.
8. Relative distribution of material of rail in head, web and foot must be balanced for
smooth transmission of loads.
9. The centre of gravity of the rail section must lie approximately at mid height so that
maximum tensile and compressive stresses are equal.
10. The tensile strength of the rail piece should not be less than 72kg/m2.
DEFECTS IN RAILS
Rail wear and the battering of rail ends are the two major defects in rails. However, some other
types of defects may also develop in a rail and necessitate its removal in extreme cases. These are
described below.
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 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
Hogging of rails
Rail ends get hogged due to poor maintenance of the rail joint, yielding formation, loose and
faulty fastenings, and other such reasons. Hogging of rails causes the quality of the track to
deteriorate. This defect can be remedied by measured shovel packing.
Scabbing of rails
The scabbing of rails occurs due to the falling of patches or chunks of metal from the rail table.
Scabbing is generally seen in the shape of an elliptical depression, whose surface reveals a
progressive fracture with numerous cracks around it.
Wheel burns
Wheel burns are caused by the slipping of the driving wheel of locomotives on the rail surface. As
a consequence, extra heat is generated and the surface of the rail gets affected, resulting in a
depression on the rail table. Wheel burns are generally noticed on steep gradients or where there
are heavy incidences or near water columns.
Shelling and black spots
Shelling is the progressive horizontal separation of metal that occurs on the gauge side, generally
at the upper gauge corner. It is primarily caused by heavy bearing pressure on a small area of
contact, which produces heavy internal shear stresses.
Corrugation of rails

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Corrugation consists of minute depressions on the surface of rails, varying in shape and size and
occurring at irregular intervals. The exact cause of corrugation is not yet known, though many
theories have been put forward.
Sleepers:
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Sleepers are members generally laid transverse to the rails on which the rails are
supported and fixed, to transfer the loads from rails to the ballast and subgrade below.
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Functions of sleepers
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1. To hold the rails to correct gauge.

2. To hold the rails in proper level or transverse tilt so as to provide a firm and even
supports to rails.
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3. To act as an elastic medium in between the ballast and rails to absorb the blows and
vibrations of moving loads.
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4. To distribute the load from the rails to the index area of ballast underlying it or to the
girders in case of bridges.
5. Sleepers also add to the longitudinal and lateral stability of the permanent track on the
whole.
6. They also provide means to rectify track geometry during service life.

Requirements of sleepers
1. The sleepers to be used should be economical i.e., they should have minimum
possible initial and maintenance costs.
2. The fittings of the sleepers should be such that they can be easily adjusted during
maintenance operations such as easy lifting, packing, removal and replacement.
3. The weight of sleepers should not be too heavy or excessively light i.e., they should
have moderate weight for ease of handling.
4. The design of sleepers should be such that the gauge, alignment of track and levels of
the rails can be easily adjusted and maintained.
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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
5. The bearing area of sleepers below the rail seat and over the ballast should be enough
to resist the crushing due to rail seat and crushing of the ballast underneath the
sleeper.
6. The sleeper design and spacing should be such as to facilitate easy removal and
replacement of ballast.
7. The sleepers should be capable of resisting shocks and vibrations due to passing of
heavy loads of high speed trains.
8. The design of the sleepers should be such that they are not damaged during packing
processes.
9. The design of sleepers should be such that they are not pushed out easily due to
moving trains especially with steel sleepers.

Ballast
• It is the granular material usually broken stone or brick, shingle or kankar, gravel or
sand placed and packed below and around the sleepers to transmit load from sleepers,
to formation and at the same time allowing drainage of the track.

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• It provides a suitable foundation for the sleepers and also hold the sleepers in their
correct level and position, preventing their displacement by lateral or longitudinal
thrusts.
• The lateral stability of track depends on the ballast.
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Functions of ballast
• It transfers the load from the sleeper to the subgrade and then distributes it uniformly
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over a larger area of the formation.

• It holds the sleepers in position and prevents the lateral and longitudinal movement,
due to dynamic loads and vibrations of moving trains.
• It imparts some degree of elasticity of the track.
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• It provides easy means of maintaining the correct levels of the two lines of a track and
for correcting track alignment.
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• It provides good drained foundation immediately below the sleepers and helps to
protect the top surface of the formation. This is achieved by providing coarse and
rough aggregates with plenty of voids.

Requirements of the good ballast

• It should be able to withstand hard packing without disintegrating. In other words it
should resist crushing under dynamic loads.
• It should not make the track dusty or muddy due powder under dynamic wheel loads but
should be capable of being cleaned to provide good drainage.
• It should allow for easy drainage with minimum soakage and the voids should be large
enough to prevent capillary action.
• It should offer resistance to abrasion and weathering. Abrasion means wear due rubbing
action of particles with each other and weathering means cracking and shattering of the
material due to variation in temperature, moisture and freezing.
• It should retain its position laterally and longitudinally under all conditions of traffic,
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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
particularly on curves, where it should be able to prevent transverse displacement of
sleepers.
• It should not produce any chemical action in rail and metal sleepers
• The size of stone ballast should be 5cm for wooden sleepers, 4cm for metal sleepers and
2.5cm for turnouts and crossovers.
• The materials should be easily workable by means of the implements in use.
• The ballast should be available in nearby quarries so that it reduces the cost of supply. It
should also fulfil the requirements of quality, amount of traffic, life and maintenance cost.

Track fittings and fastenings

Track fittings and fastenings are fittings requires for joining of rails end to end and also for
fixing the rails to sleepers in a track.

Functions of track fittings and fastenings

Rail fixtures and fastenings have the following functions:
(i) To join the rails end to end to form full length of track.

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(ii) To fix the rails to [Link] maintain the correct alignment of the track.
(iii) To provide proper expansion gap between rails.
(iv)To maintain the required tilt of rails.
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(v) To set the points and crossings in proper position.
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Fish plates
Fish plates are used in rail joints to maintain the continuity of the rails.
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Two types of fish plates are commonly used on Indian Railways for joining F.F. and
B.H. rails, each fish plate is 457 mm long and provided with four holes 32 mm at a spacing of
114 mm c/c.
These are manufactured of steel and are so designed that they fit in between the head
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and foot of the rail.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Requirements of fish plates

(i) They should hold the adjoining ends of rails in correct horizontal and vertical plane.
(ii) They should allow free longitudinal movements of rails due to temperature variation.
(iii) They should be able to resist all types of wear.

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(iv) They should allow easy renewal and replacement of rails in case of wear and damage.

Bearing plates
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• Bearing plates are cast iron or steel plates placed in between the F.F rail and wooden
sleepers of a railway track.
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• F.F. rails if fixed directly on wooden sleepers sink in the sleeper due to the heavy
loads of trains and thus loosen the spikes.
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• To overcome this difficulty bearing plates are used under F.F. rails to distribute the
load over a wider area and bring the intensity of pressure within limit.
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Advantages
(i) They distribute the loads to wider area and prevent sinking of the rail to the sleeper.
(ii) They enable the spikes to remain tight and require less maintenance.
(iii) Bearing plates prevent the widening of gauge on curves.
(iv) Bearing plates increase the overall stability of the track.
(v) They prevent the destruction of the sleeper due to rubbing action of the rail.
Disadvantages
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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

i. When the bearing plates become loose due to settlement of ballast, moisture is likely
to enter between the sleepers and plates, causing sleepers to wear.
ii. When any spike is damaged and it is required to be redriven at another place, all other
spikes of the bearing plates have to be removed, which will reduce the holding power
of the spikes.
Spikes
Requirements of a good spike
(i) It should be easy in fixing or removing from the sleepers.
(ii) It should hold the rails and bearing plates in proper position.
(iii) It should be cheap.
(iv) It should require minimum maintenance.
(v) It should not come out of the sleepers under vibrations.
Dog spikes: Dog spikes are the cheaper type of spikes which hold the rails at correct gauge
and can be easily fixed and removed. These are commonly used for holding F.F. rails. Four
dog spikes are used per sleeper, two on either side of the rail.

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Screw spikes
Screw spikes are tapered screws with V-threads. Their head is circular with a square
projection and are used to fasten rails with wooden sleepers. The holding power of these
spikes is more than double to that of dog spikes and can resist the lateral thrust better than the
dog spikes.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Round spikes
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Round spikes are used for fixing chairs of B.H. rails to wooden sleepers and also for
fixing slide chairs of points and crossings. These have both cylindrical or hemispherical
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head and blunt end.
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Elastic spikes
Elastic spikes are used for fixing F.F. rails to wooden sleepers. These give better grip
and result in reduction of wear and tear of rail. The advantage of this type of spike is that it is
not pulled up by the wave action of the moving train.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Bolts

Fish bolts
Fish bolts are used for connecting fish plates with the rails. Four bolts are required for
each pair of fish plates. These bolts are inserted from outside the track and bolted on the
inside of the track.

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Hook bolts
Hook bolts are also known as dog bolts due to the shape of their heads. These bolts
are used to fix sleepers which rest directly on a girder. Two bolts per sleeper are used. Dog
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bolts are of two types.
(i) Sloping lips- for fixing sleepers to plate girder spans.
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(ii) Straight lips- for fixing sleepers to joint spans.
Fang bolts
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Fang bolts are used for fixing side chairs to sleepers. These are alternative to screw or
round spikes. The fang bolts are found to be more effective but are not generally used,
because fixing and removal of these bolts are difficult.
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Chairs

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
Keys
These are small tapered pieces of timber or steel used to fix rails to chairs on metal sleepers.
Keys are of two types
(i) Wooden keys
(ii) Metal keys
Wooden keys are small straight or tapered pieces of timber. These are cheap and
easily prepared. These are not strong and become loose under vibrations. These require
frequent maintenance. Wooden keys are not used now-a day in Indian Railways.
Metal keys are small tapered or spring like pieces of steel. These keys are much more
durable than wooden keys. Metal keys are of two types.
(i) Stuart`s key and
(ii) Morgan key

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

Super elevation or Cant

• When a train moves round a curve, it is subjected to a centrifugal force acting
horizontally at the centre of gravity of each vehicle radially away from the centre of
the curve. This increases the weight on the outer rail.
• To counteract the effect of centrifugal force, the level of the outer rail is raised above
the inner rail by a certain amount to introduce the centripetal force.
• This raised elevation of outer rail above the inner rail at a horizontal curve is called
super elevation (e).

GV 2
e= , centimetre
1.27 R

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
Point and Crossing

Points and crossings are provided facilitates the change of railway vehicles from one track to
another. The tracks may be parallel, diverging, or converging to each other. Points and
crossings are necessary due to the inside flanges of wheels of railway vehicles and, therefore
require special arrangement to navigate their way on the rails. The points or switches aid in
diverting the vehicles and the crossings provide gaps in the rails so as to help the flanged
wheels to roll over them. A complete set of points and crossings, along with lead rails, is
called a turnout.
Important terms

The following terms are often used in the design of points and crossings.

Turnout It is an arrangement of points and crossings with lead rails by means of which the
rolling stock may be diverted from one track to another. Figure (a) shows the various
constituents of a turnout. The details of these constituents are given in Table below. Table:
Parts of a turnout

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Name of the main assembly Various constituents of the assembly Set of switches A pair of
stock rails, a pair of tongue rails, a pair of heel blocks, several slide chairs, two or more
stretcher bars, and a gauge tie plate Crossing A nose consisting of a point rail and splice rails,
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two wing rails, and two check rails Lead rails Four sets of lead rails
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Direction of a turnout A turnout is designated as a right-hand or a left-hand turnout
depending on whether it diverts the traffic to the right or to the left. In Fig. (a), the turnout is
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a right-hand turnout because it diverts the traffic towards the right side. Figure (b) shows a
left-hand turnout. The direction of a point (or turnout) is known as the facing direction if a
vehicle approaching the turnout or a point has to first face the thin end of the switch. The
direction is trailing direction if the vehicle has to negotiate a switch in the trailing direction,
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that is, the vehicle first negotiates the crossing and then finally traverses on the switch from
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its thick end to its thin end. Therefore, when standing at the toe of a switch, if one looks in
the direction of the crossing, it is called the facing direction and the opposite direction is
called the trailing direction.

Fig. (a) Right-hand turnout

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4

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Fig. (b) Left-hand turnout

Tongue rail: It is a tapered movable rail, made of high-carbon or -manganese steel to

withstand wear. At its thicker end, it is attached to a running rail. A tongue rail is also called a
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switch rail.
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Stock rail: It is the running rail against which a tongue rail operates.
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Points or switch: A pair of tongue and stock rails with the necessary connections and fittings
forms a switch.

Crossing: It is a device introduced at the junction where two rails cross each other to permit
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the wheel flange.

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 TRANSPORTATION
Railways ENGINEERING Module - 4

Railway Stations and Yards

A railway station or a railroad station and often shortened to just station, is a railway
facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers and/or freight

A railway station is that place on a railway line where traffic is booked and dealt with
and where trains are given the authority to proceed forward. Sometimes only one of these
functions is carried out at a station and accordingly it is classified as a flag station or a block
station. In the case of a flag station, there are arrangements for dealing with traffic but none
for controlling the movement of the trains.

Requirements of a Passenger Station

The main requirements of a passenger yard are the following.
(a) It should be possible to lower the signals for the reception of trains from different
directions at the same time. This facility is particularly necessary at junction stations so that
all the trains what are to be connected with each other may be received at the same time.
(b) Unless all trains are booked to stop at the station, it should be possible to run a train

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through the station at a prescribed speed.
(c) In the case of an engine changing station, an engine coming from or going to a shed
should cause minimum interference in the arrival and departure of trains.
(d) An adequate number of platforms should be provided so that all trains can be dealt with at
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the same time.
(e) There should be convenient sidings where extra carriages can be stabled after having been
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detached from trains or before their attachment to trains.
(f) There should be provision of facilities for dealing with special traffic such as pilgrim and
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tourist traffic, parcels in wagon loads, livestock, and motor cars.

(g) Stabling lines, washing lines, sick lines, etc., should be provided as per requirement.
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Purpose / Requirements of a Railway Station

A railway station is provided for one or more of the following purposes.
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(a) To entrain or detrain passengers

(b) To load or unload goods or parcels
(c) To control the movement of trains
(d) To enable trains to cross each other in the case of a single-line section
(e) To enable faster trains to overtake slower ones
(f) To enable locomotives to refuel, whether it be diesel, water, or coal
(g) To attach or detach coaches or wagons to trains
(h) To collect food and water for passengers
(i) To provide facilities for change of engines and crew/staff
(j) To enable sorting out of wagons and bogies to form new trains
(k) To provide facilities and give shelter to passengers in the case of emergencies such as
floods and accidents, which disrupt traffic

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
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Classification of Stations
Stations can be classified on the basis of their operation as
1. Block stations-Class A, Class B and Class C
2. Non Block Stations-Class D stations or Flag stations
3. Special class stations.
Block Stations:
The stations at the end the block sections are called Block stations
A class station: A class stations are normally provided on double-line sections. At such
stations a ‘line clear’ signal cannot be granted at the rear of a station unless the line on which
a train is to be received is clear and the facing points set and locked. No shunting can be done
after line clear has been granted.

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B class station: This is the most common type of station and is provided on single-line as
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well as double-line sections. At a B class station, the line has to be clear up to an adequate
distance beyond the outer signal before ‘permission to approach’ can be given to a train. The
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minimum signals required at a B class station are as follows.

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TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING Module - 4
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C class station: The C class station is only a block hut where no booking of passengers is

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done. It is basically provided to split a long block section so that the interval between
successive trains is reduced. No train normally stops at these stations.
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Non-block Stations or D Class Stations: D class or non-block stations are located between
two block stations and do not forms the boundary of any block section. No signals are
provided at D class stations.

Functional Classification of Stations: The layout of stations varies in size and importance
according to the type and volume of traffic handled and according to their locations with
respect to cities or industrial areas. Broadly speaking, the layouts required for passenger
stations and their yards can be divided into the following categories for the purpose of study.
(a) Halts
(b) Flag stations
(c) Roadside or crossing stations
(d) Junction stations
(e) Terminal stations

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Types of Yards
A yard is a system of tracks laid out to deal with the passenger as well as goods traffic being
handled by the railways. This includes receipt and dispatch of trains apart from stabling,
sorting, marshalling, and other such functions. Yards are normally classified into the
following categories.

Coaching yard
The main function of a coaching yard is to deal with the reception and dispatch of passenger
trains. Depending upon the volume of traffic, this yard provides facilities such as watering
and fuelling of engines, washing of rakes, examination of coaches, charging of batteries, and
trans-shipment of passengers.

Goods yard
A goods yard provides facilities for the reception, stabling, loading, unloading, and dispatch
of goods wagons. Most goods yards deal with a full train load of wagons. No sorting,
marshalling, and reforming is done at goods yards except in the case of ‘sick’ wagons or a

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few wagons booked for that particular station. Separate goods sidings are provided with the
platforms for the loading and unloading of the goods being handled at that station.

Marshalling yard
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A goods yard which deals with the sorting of goods wagons to form new goods trains is
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called a marshalling yard. This is discussed in detail in Section 26.8.1.
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Locomotive yard
This is the yard which houses the locomotive. Facilities for watering, fuelling, examining
locomotives, repairing, etc., are provided in this yard. The yard layout is designed depending
upon the number of locomotives required to be housed in the locomotive shed. The facilities
are so arranged that a requisite number of locomotives are serviced simultaneously and are
readily available for hauling the trains. Such yards should have adequate space for storing
fuel. The water supply should be adequate for washing the locomotives and servicing them.

Sick line yard

Whenever a wagon or coach becomes defective, it is marked ‘sick’ and taken to sick lines.
This yard deals with such sick wagons. Adequate facilities are provided for the repair of
coaches and wagons, which include examination pits, crane arrangements, train examiner’s
office and workshop, etc. A good stock of spare parts should also be available with the TXR
(train examiner) for repairing defective rolling stock.

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