Tramway track

Track gauge

By transport mode

Tram · Rapid transit
Miniature · Scale model

By size (list)



Minimum
Fifteen inch	381 mm	(15 in)

Narrow
600 mm, Two foot	597 mm 600 mm 603 mm 610 mm	(1 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in) (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) (1 ft 11 ³⁄₄ in) (2 ft)
750 mm, Bosnian, Two foot six inch, 800 mm	750 mm 760 mm 762 mm 800 mm	(2 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in) (2 ft 5 ¹⁵⁄₁₆ in) (2 ft 6 in) (2 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in)
Swedish three foot, 900 mm, Three foot	891 mm 900 mm 914 mm	(2 ft 11 ³⁄₃₂ in) (2 ft 11 ⁷⁄₁₆) (3 ft)
Metre	1,000 mm	(3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)
Three foot six inch	1,067 mm	(3 ft 6 in)
Four foot six inch	1,372 mm	(4 ft 6 in)

Standard	1,435 mm	(4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)

Broad
1520 mm, Five foot	1,520 mm 1,524 mm	(4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) (5 ft)
Five foot three inch	1,600 mm	(5 ft 3 in)
Iberian	1,668 mm	(5 ft 5 ²¹⁄₃₂ in)
Five foot six inch	1,676 mm	(5 ft 6 in)
Six foot	1,829 mm	(6 ft)
Brunel	2,140 mm	(7 ft ¹⁄₄ in)

Change of gauge

Break-of-gauge · Dual gauge ·
Conversion (list) · Bogie exchange · Variable gauge

By location

North America · South America · Europe · Australia

Tramway track is used on tramways or light rail operations. Grooved rails (or girder rails) are often used to provide a protective flangeway in the trackwork in city streets. Like standard rail tracks, tram tracks consist of two parallel steel rails.

Tram rails can be placed on several surfaces, such as with standard rails on sleepers like railway tracks, or with grooved rails on concrete sleepers into street surfaces (pavement) for street running. Another environmentally friendly or ecologically friendly alternative is to lay tracks into grass turf surfaces; this is known as grassed track (or track in a lawn), first used in Liverpool in 1924.

History

The first street tramways were laid in 1832 in New York by John Stephenson to assist horses pulling buses on dirt roads, especially when the roads were muddy from wet weather. The rails enabled a horse to easily pull a load of 10 tonnes compared to 1 tonne on a dirt road. The evolution of street tramway tracks paralleled the transition from horse power to mechanical and electric power. In a dirt road, the rails needed a foundation, usually a mass concrete raft. Highway authorities often made tramway companies pave the rest of the road, usually with granite or similar stone blocks, at extra cost.

The first tramways had a rail projecting above the road surface, or a step set into the road, both of which were apt to catch the narrow tyres of horse-drawn carriages. The invention by Alphonse Loubat in 1852 of grooved rail enabled tramways to be laid without causing a nuisance to other road users, except unsuspecting cyclists, who could get their wheels caught in the groove.

Electrification

Electrification needed other developments, most notably heavier rails to cope with electric tramcars weighing 12 tonnes rather than the 4 tonne horse-drawn variety; switching points, as electric trams could not be pulled onto the correct track by horses; and the need for electrical connections, to provide the return path for the electric current, which was usually supplied through an overhead wire.

Cable haulage

Prior to the universal introduction of electric power, many tramways were cable hauled, with a continuous cable carried in a conduit under the road, and with a slot in the road surface through which the tram could clasp the cable for motion. This system can still be seen in San Francisco in California as well as the system of the Great Orme in Wales. These needed a rather more substantial track formation.

Conduit and stud systems

In some cities where overhead electric cables were deemed intrusive, underground conduits with electrical conductors were used. Examples of this were New York, Washington DC, Paris, London, Brussels and Budapest. The conduit system of electrical power was very expensive to install and maintain, although Washington did not close until 1962. Attempts were made with alternative systems not needing overhead wires. There were many systems of “surface” contact, where studs were set in the road surface, and energised by a passing tram, either mechanically or magnetically, to supply power through a skate carried under the tram. Unfortunately these systems all failed due to the problem of reliability and not always turning off after the tram had passed, resulting in the occasional electrocution of horses and dogs. In the last five years a new system of surface contact has been installed in the Bordeaux tramway by Alstom.

Grooved rail

Cross-section of LR55 rail

Cross section of a grooved tram rail

Difference in form and profile of the wheel and the rail of a train (left, blue) and a tram (right, green).

A grooved rail, groove rail, or girder rail is a special rail with a groove designed for tramway or railway track in pavement or grassed surfaces (grassed track or track in a lawn). This was invented in 1852 by Alphonse Loubat, a French inventor who developed improvements in tram and rail equipment, and helped develop tram lines in New York City and Paris.

Other tram track profiles

An alternative to the conventional girder profiled grooved track is the LR55 profile. This is considerably cheaper and easier to install and maintain than conventional girder rail as it requires a smaller footprint foundation and existing utility services need not be disturbed.^[1] There is also grooved block rail.^[2]

Track gauge

Gallery

Grassed track

Light rail tracks with concrete railroad ties (sleepers)

Laying tram tracks on Sydney's original tram network

Grooved rail gauntlet track

Joining tram tracks using an exothermic weld

A rough exothermic weld after removal of the mould

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tram rail tracks.

LR55 Track System Full details
LR55 track suppliers and advisers
European Girder Guard Rail Sections and Tram/Street Car Grooved BLOCK Rail without Web
Testing Girder Rail on the MBTA.
Wirth Girder Rail
Grooved or girder rail
MRT Track & Services Co., Inc / Krupp, T and girder rails, scroll down.
Block rails
ThyssenKrupp grooved rail
Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (1 January 2000). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4014-2. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

Railway infrastructure
Permanent way	Permanent way (history) Permanent way (current) Railroad tie/Sleeper Rail fastening system Track ballast Rail profile Fishplate Breather switch Datenail Axe ties Ladder track Baulk road Cant Minimum radius Track transition curve Clip and scotch
Trackwork and track structures	Junction Wye Railroad switch Gauntlet track Railway electrification system Third rail Overhead lines Guide bar Track gauge Track geometry Railway turntable Water crane Track pan Coaling tower Rail track Tramway track Classification yard Rail yard Siding Passing loop Balloon loop Headshunt Refuge siding Dual gauge Roll way
Signalling and safety	Derail Railway signalling Signalling control Wayside horn Railway signal Interlocking Level crossing Buffer stop Catch points Loading gauge Structure gauge Block post Train stop Signal bridge Tell-tale
Buildings	Railway station Station building Railway station layout Station clock Train shed Goods shed Motive power depot Roundhouse Railway platform

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