WO2014201523A1

WO2014201523A1 - Improvements in railway tracks

Info

Publication number: WO2014201523A1
Application number: PCT/AU2014/050083
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen Baines; David Mcmah
Original assignee: Aurizon Operations Ltd
Current assignee: Aurizon Operations Ltd
Priority date: 2013-06-21
Filing date: 2014-06-20
Publication date: 2014-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 2015-12-21

Abstract

A portable railway track module. The module includes one or more railway rails and one or more supports for supporting the rails. The track module may be used to temporarily transport trains at lower speeds when, for example, forming a temporary diversion track around a train derailment. After use, the used track modules may be typically disposed of or discarded.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRACKS

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to railway tracks. BACKGROUND

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

Railway tracks are the structures that support and guide trains or other rail- guided transportation vehicles. The tracks typically include an earthen formation, a ballast in the form of aggregate lying upon the formation, parallel sleepers aligned in a row resting upon the ballast and a pair of railway rails resting upon the sleepers.

Railway tracks are generally designed and constructed for extended life, high speeds and dynamic loading. There is a need for quick and low cost construction of track that is not subjected to high speed, high wear and high loading such as sidings and yards.

Rolling stock currently requires the use of a break in the rail such as a turnout to go from one line to another. It would be desirable to create the turnout anywhere on the network on a temporary basis for maintenance rolling stock and emergency situations.

Railway networks require sidings and yards that store and facilitate maintenance on rolling stock. There is a need for facilities to support environmental requirements and staff that perform the maintenance.

Railway tracks are often damaged upon derailment of a train and cannot be used for many days until the wreckage is cleared and the track is restored. The track damage and presence of wreckage at one location can undesirably close off the entire line. Embodiments of the present invention provide a means for more quickly opening the line to rail traffic. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable railway track module including:

one or more railway rails; and

one or more supports for supporting the rails.

The module may further include one or more levelers for locating beneath the supports. Each leveler may include a tillable container. Each container may include a bag.

Each support may define one or more recesses on its underside for receiving a fillable container or receiving forklift tines. Each support may be formed from composite material including polymeric and either concrete or cementitious material. Each support may include durable skin adjacent a structural foam core. The durable skin may include steel plate material which is ultra violet (UV) radiation and weld spatter resistant. The steel plate material may include formations to impede slipping.

Each support may define one or more apertures for receiving a ground screw. Each support may include internal reinforcing. The rails may be fixedly embedded in the supports.

Each rail may be formed from rail segments. Preferably, the one or more rails consist of two rails.

Each support may include at least one panel. Each panel may include a pair of lateral drainage or connection channels. Each panel may include a pair of rail slots for receiving respective rails. Each panel may include polymer for mounting the rails in the slots. The rail slots may be located between the drainage or connection channels. Each panel may include end engagement formations to facilitate end-to-end serial engagement of adjacent panels.

In one embodiment, each rail slots may receive a tubular resilient filler to fill space between the rail and the panel. Each support may include multiple panels, the module including an axially extending compression rod arrangement for compressing the panels together.

At least one support may define an opening between a pair of rails in which a rail worker can be located to perform maintenance to the underside of a wagon on the rails.

The module may further include at least one walkway for releasably fastening to said supports. The walkway may define a drainage channel and a connection channel. The walkway may include a panel which tapers towards the drainage channel. The module may further include a fence for releasably fastening to the walkway.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transporter for transporting at least one said module, the transporter including a container.

The container may be a shipping container. The shipping container may be a 40 foot container.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support for a portable railway track module, the support including a composite body defining:

one or more recesses on one side for receiving respective railway rails; and

one or more recesses on the other side for receiving respective fillable containers. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for diverting a railway track, the method including the steps of:

serially arranging a number of the portable railway track modules; and interconnecting the modules.

In the event of a train derailment, the foregoing method may be used to quickly form a temporary alternative route for other trains on the same line to bypass the wreckage and damaged portion of the track. The alternative route may be operational within hours (compared with days to re-open the track).

The method may further include the step of bending some of the modules. The method may further include the step of connecting each end of the interconnected modules to the railway track. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a modular railway track including at least one of the portable railway track modules.

The modules may include one or more serially interconnected maintenance modules, temporary modules, transition modules or temporary turning modules.

Each maintenance module may provide a walkway or similar extended storage or work area to facilitate maintenance and washing of wagons. Each temporary module may be straight. Each transition module may be bowed or curved . Each transition module may have curvilinear parallel rails.

The temporary turning modules may enable seamless connection to a mainline railway track. The temporary turning modules may overlap with the railway track and include complementarily fitting pieces.

These fitting pieces may be manually handled, and allow for easy final connection to the mainline track using 'keystones' to complete the connection to the other mainline track. A track siding or walkway may be attached to any of the modules that facilitates drainage or liquid capture. The siding may support structures including fencing, barriers, stairs or scaffolding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows: Figure 1 a is a side sectional view of a portable railway track module in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1 b is a partial perspective view of the railway track module of Figure 1 a;

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a railway track showing both a train derailment and a temporary diversion track including portable railway track modules of Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is an upper perspective view of a portable railway track module in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is an end view of a rail assembly of the railway track module of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view showing a non-slip steel panel of the railway track module of Figure 3; and Figure 6 is a schematic plan view of a modular railway track including various types of railway track modules.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a portable railway track module 4 as shown in Figure 1 . The railway track module 4 includes a pair of embedded railway rails 6a, 6b and an number of composite supports 2 for supporting the rails 6a, 6b (see also Figure 2). The composite supports 2 are lighter (yet less durable) than traditional sleepers to facilitate portability of the module 4. The track module 4 can be used to temporarily transport trains at lower speeds when, for example, forming a temporary diversion track around a train derailment as shown in Figure 2. After use, the used track modules 4 are typically disposed of or discarded.

The track module 4 includes rail levelers 8 for locating beneath the supports 2. Each leveler 8 includes a tillable container in the form of a bag that can be filled with a settable slurry filler to level the railway rails 6a, 6b and stabilise the modules 4 during installation. Each support 2 defines a pair of recesses 10a, 10b on its underside for receiving respective levelers 8. Each support 2 also defines a central aperture 1 2 for receiving a anchoring ground screw (not shown).

Each support 2 is formed from lightweight composite material of high compressive strength. The composite material includes polymeric and either concrete or cementitious material. The rails 6a, 6b are fixedly embedded in the supports 2 as can best be seen in Figure 1 a and are received in recesses in the roofs of the supports 2. Each support 2 includes internal reinforcing 14 encapsulated within the composite material. Each rail 6 is typically formed from a number of serially interconnected rail segments (e.g. one segment per support), although may be integrally formed from a single piece of steel. A method for diverting a conventional railway track 50 is now described with reference to Figure 2. A train has derailed thereby sprawling rail carriages 52 whilst buckling one rail 54 and breaking a section of the other rail 56. The diversion method involves serially arranging a number of the portable railway track modules 4a, 4b, etc. extending from the railway track 50. Some of the track modules 4 can be bent to form a radius as required. The track modules 4 can be interconnected together, and both ends of the connected modules 4 can be connected to the railway track 50 on respective sides of the derailment. In this manner, a temporary alternative route is quickly formed for other trains on the same line to bypass the wreckage 52 and damaged portions of the track 50. The alternative route including the track modules 4 will be operational within hours (compared with days to re-open the track 50). Once the train wreckage 52 has been removed, the track modules 4 can be removed and the track 50 can be restored.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a portable railway track module 100 as shown in Figure 3. The module 1 00 includes a pair of railway rails 1 02, and three interconnecting supports 104 for supporting the rails 102.

Each support 104 includes a panel 106. Each panel 106 includes a pair of outer lateral drainage or connection channels 1 08a, 108b. Each panel 1 06 includes a pair of inner rail slots 1 1 0a, 100b for receiving respective rails 1 02, and further includes polymer for mounting the rails 102 in the slots 1 10. The rail slots 1 10 are located between the peripheral drainage or connection channels 108. Each panel 1 06 includes interlocking male-female end engagement formations (not shown) to facilitate end-to-end serial engagement of adjacent panels 1 06.

The module 100 includes an axially extending compression rod arrangement passing through holes 1 12a, 1 12b and for compressing the three panels 1 06 together. Each panel 106 tapers from its centre towards the drainage channels 108 so that rainwater drains into the channels 108.

The module 100 further includes at least one walkway 1 14 for releasably fastening to the supports 104. The walkway 1 14 defines a drainage channel 1 16 along one edge and an inverted connection channel 1 18 along the other edge. The connection channel 1 18 clips over an edge of the channel 108b of the support panel 106. The panel walkway 1 14 also tapers towards the drainage channel 1 1 6 to facilitate drainage. The width of the walkway 1 14 is typically 0.85 metres although can vary, and is typically wider (e.g. 1 .7meters wide) for location at washing stations where the trains are washed.

Each module 100 is about 1 2 metres long, including three 4 metre long panels 106, and is suitable for use with standard 1 2.19 metre rail lengths to minimize wastage. A 40 foot shipping container is used to transport the modules 100. The width of each module 100 is such that it fits within the shipping container (i.e. typically < 2.3 metres). Each module 100 is about 215 mm deep to provide sufficient strength to carry rail vehicles with up to 21 .5 tonne axle weight.

Turning to Figure 4, each rail slot 1 1 0 can receive a tubular resilient filler 120 to fill space between the rail 1 02 and the panel 106.

Each panel 106 includes durable top skin 122 adjacent a structural foam core. The durable skin 1 22 is steel plate material which is ultra violet (UV) radiation and weld spatter resistant. The steel plate material includes raised generally diamond-shaped formations 1 24 to impede feet slipping as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 6 shows a modular railway track 150 that forms a temporary siding branching from a conventional railway track 50. The modular railway track 150 includes four types of railway track modules 1 52a-d, each of similar construction to modules 4 (Fig. 1 b) or 1 00 (Fig. 3). The modules 1 52 include serially interconnected maintenance modules 152a, low cost, temporary modules 152b, transition modules 152c and temporary turning modules 152d. Each maintenance module 152a provides a walkway 1 14 or similar extended storage or work area to facilitate maintenance and washing of wagons. Each temporary module 152b is a straight siding of any length and produced at low cost. The separated rails 102 are continuously supported.

Each transition module 152c may be bowed or curved to enable smooth transition from the straight temporary module 152b toward the railway track 50. Each transition module 152c has curvilinear parallel rails 102.

The temporary turning modules 152d enable seamless connection from transition modules 152c to the mainline railway track 50 which is parallel with the temporary modules 1 52b. The temporary turning modules 152d overlap with the main railway track 50 and include key stone complementarily fitting pieces so that connection to the railway track 50 can be manually effected without any disruption to trains on the main railway track 50.

A track siding or walkway 1 14 can be attached to any of the modules 152a-d. Advantageously, modular railway track 150 is safe to install and provides a safer means to perform maintenance work than traditional techniques. Furthermore, the modules 1 52 are cheaper to transport and more expedient to install requiring less skilled labour. The modules provide environmental benefits with modules 1 52 containing spilled fluids and residual wash water.

A track siding or walkway can be releasably attached to any of the modules 152 that facilitates drainage or liquid capture. The siding can support structures including fencing, barriers, stairs and scaffolding. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that many embodiments and variations can be made without departing from the ambit of the present invention. At least one support 104 can define an opening between the pair of rails 102, in which a rail worker can be located to perform maintenance to the underside of a wagon on the rails 102. The module 1 00 can further include a fence for releasably fastening to the outer perimeter of the walkway 1 14.

In one embodiment, the rails 6a, 6b may be able to move relative to the supports 2 to facilitate bending of the track modules 4.

Each track module 4 may be about 10 metres in length and can be moved into position using a light crane, however, the module size and weight can be varied as required. In one embodiment, each support 2 defines one or more recesses on its underside for receiving forklift tines

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1 . A portable railway track module including:

one or more railway rails; and

one or more supports for supporting the rails.

2. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each support includes at least one panel.

3. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 2, wherein each panel includes a pair of lateral drainage or connection channels.

4. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein each panel includes a pair of rail slots for receiving respective rails.

5. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 4, wherein each panel includes polymer for mounting the rails in the slots.

6. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the rail slots are located between the drainage or connection channels.

7. A portable railway track module as claim in any one of claim 4 to 6, wherein each rail slot receives a tubular resilient filler to fill space between the rail and the panel.

8. A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein each panel includes end engagement formations to facilitate end-to- end serial engagement of adjacent panels.

9. A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein each support includes multiple panels, the module including an axially extending compression rod arrangement for compressing the panels together.

10. A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one support defines an opening between a pair of rails in which a rail worker can be located to perform maintenance to the underside of a wagon on the rails.

1 1 . A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the module further includes at least one walkway for releasably fastening to said supports.

12. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the walkway defines a drainage channel and a connection channel.

13. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 1 2, wherein the walkway includes a panel which tapers towards the drainage channel.

14. A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of claims 1 1 to 13, wherein the module further includes a fence for releasably fastening to the walkway.

15. A portable railway track module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each support includes durable skin adjacent a less durable core.

16. A portable railway track module as claimed in claim 1 5, wherein the skin includes formations to impede slipping.

17. A method for diverting a railway track, the method including the steps of:

serially arranging a number of portable railway track modules as claimed in any one of the preceding claims; and

interconnecting the modules.

18. A modular railway track including at least one of the portable railway track modules as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 1 6.

19. A modular railway track as claimed in claim 18, wherein the modules include one or more serially interconnected maintenance modules, temporary modules, transition modules or temporary turning modules.

20. A modular railway track as claimed in claim 19, wherein:

each maintenance module provides a walkway or similar extended storage or work area to facilitate maintenance and washing of wagons;

each temporary module is straight;

each transition module is bowed or curved and has curvilinear parallel rails; or

each temporary turning module enables seamless connection to a mainline railway track.