Method and system for controlling railroad surfacing

Abstract

A system and method for controlling railroad surfacing is provided. A computerized controller compares desired railroad rail position values with actual railroad rail position values such that a tamper machine raises, lowers, and horizontally moves the rails to correct the alignment of the rails and ties. The system may be used in conjunction with existing shadowboard tamper systems, with the computerized controller receiving precision reference signals corresponding to desired rail position values, and moving projectors according to the difference of the railroad rail position value and desired railroad position value.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 602,078, filed on Aug. 16, 2004.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention generally relates to railroad placement and surfacing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for controlling such railroad surfacing. The control system of the present invention can be used in conjunction with existing surfacing systems. [0003] When constructing a railroad, after properly grading the underlying land, a bed of gravel or ballast is formed from anywhere between one and three feet thick. The railroad ties are embedded in the ballast and the rails attached thereto. In the case of wooden railroad ties, the rails are nailed to the ties with spikes. In the case of concrete ties, clips connect the rails and the ties. [0004] The rails and ties must then be set at a predetermined height and alignment. The rails must be a certain height above the ballast ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The present invention resides in a railroad rail surfacing control system, which can be used in combination with existing shadowboard systems. The system and method of the present invention improves resurfacing accuracy and efficiency such that the rails can be set within the necessary tolerances in automatic fashion in as few as a single pass. Thus, many more feet per day can be surfaced than using existing technology. Moreover, the method and system of the present invention allows vertical and horizontal curves to be automatically resurfaced.

Problems solved by technology

However, the current method of “tamper” or surfacing the rails and railroad ties using the existing shadowboard system leaves much to be desired.

The existing shadowboard system is also very difficult to use when the rail has vertical or horizontal curves or dips.

As the buggies with the projectors are typically between 50 and 100 feet in front of the tamper machine, there is a built-in error in the correction to the rails.

As such, only approximately 800 feet per day can be surfaced using the existing shadowboard system and tamper machines.

Moreover, the existing shadowboard systems are not extremely accurate and thus make the surfacing or tampering of commuter rail lines, which have much tighter tolerances, very time consuming and costly.

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