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Permanent way facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Close-up of railway track
Railway track (new) showing traditional features of ballast, part of sleeper and fixing mechanisms

The permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on ties ("sleepers" in British parlance) embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway. It is described as permanent way because in the earlier days of railway construction, contractors often laid a temporary track to transport spoil and materials about the site; when this work was substantially completed, the temporary track was taken up and the permanent way installed.

Images for kids

  • Feste Fahrbahn FFBögl

    New railway concrete sleeper.

  • Section through railway track and foundation

    Section through railway track and foundation showing the ballast and formation layers. The layers are slightly sloped to help drainage. Sometimes there is a layer of rubber matting (not shown) to improve drainage, and to dampen sound and vibration

  • China high speed rail ballastless tracks

    Ballastless high-speed track in China

  • Diagram of section of ladder track type of sleeper on Leeds and Selby Railway

    Diagram of cross section of 1830s ladder type track used on the Leeds and Selby Railway

  • FloatingLadder

    Ladder track at Shinagawa Station, Tokyo, Japan

  • THORN-155lb-PS-jointed-joint

    Bonded main line 6-bolt rail joint on a segment of 155 lb/yd (76.9 kg/m) rail. The alternating bolt head orientation is to prevent complete separation of the joint in the event of being struck by a wheel during a derailment.

  • Geschweisster schienenstoss

    Welded rail joint

  • LIRR-Winter-Flames

    A pull-apart on the Long Island Rail Road Babylon Branch being repaired by using flaming rope to expand the rail back to a point where it can be joined together

  • Expansion joint, Hayle

    An expansion joint on the Cornish Main Line, England

  • Panama Canal under construction, 1907

    Panama Canal construction track

  • Sectiongang hungerford1917

    Circa 1917, American section gang (gandy dancers) responsible for maintenance of a particular section of railway. One man is holding a lining bar (gandy), while others are using rail tongs to position a rail.

  • Track Flange Oiler

    Flange oilers lubricate wheel flanges to reduce rail wear in tight curves, Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa

  • ICE TrainTrack

    Intercity-Express Track, Germany

  • Toyohashi Station 001

    On this Japanese high-speed line, mats have been added to stabilize the ballast

  • Mercedes-Benz O 305 on guided busway in Adelaide

    Buses driving on tracks

  • Track of Singapore LRT

    Track of Singapore LRT

  • Risanatrice

    Maintenance of way equipment in Italy

  • Maintenance of way

    A track renewal train in Pennsylvania

  • Plasser & Theurer 09-32 CSM CFR

    Plasser & Theurer 09-32 CSM continuous action levelling, lining and tamping machine of the Romanian Railways

See also

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Permanent way Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.