Chapter 7
I The First 100 Years 1788-1888
II Railways
i Location of the Railway
ii Track
iii Bridging and Tunnelling
iv Dams for Engine Water
v Locomotives and Rolling Stock
vi Signalling and Telecommunications
vii 1900/1988-The New Century
viii The Garratt Locomotive
ix Steam Locomotive Practice
x Motor Railcars
xi Signalling
xii Electric Tramways
xiii Electric Railways - Direct Current
xiv Electric Railways - 25 kV ac
xv Diesel Traction
xvi Alignment and Track
xvii Operations
III Motorised Vehicles
IV Aviation
V Modern Shipping
VI Innovative Small Craft
VII Conclusion
VIII Acknowledgements
IX Contributors
References
Index
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Alignment and Track (continued)
The 'heavy haul' railway departments of the Pilbara iron ore companies, whose traffic axleloads and train lengths are among the highest in the world, were the primary driving force behind the whole exercise. The steel divisions of BHP played a vital role in developing a new Australian technology for the head hardening of carbon steel rail using air quenching techniques (since licensed internationally) for heavy duty service and a wide range of novel steel sleeper designs for all kinds of railway.Parallel track developments for 'difficult' locations (e.g. tunnels and floor lowering) included the application of concrete slab track structures and, for the Melbourne Underground Loop, a novel track comprising pairs of sleepers 'floating' in rubber, to reduce structural vibration and noise.
A section on railways track construction is included in Chapter 6.
Organisations in Australian Science at Work - B.H.P. Steel International. Long Products Division
People in Bright Sparcs - Macfarlane, Ian B.
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Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |  |
© 1988 Print Edition page 483, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/476.html