THE MYSTERY OF "ROARING RAILS."

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17419, 1 April 1922, Page 3

THE MYSTERY OF "ROARING RAILS."

On many of the railway systems of the world the phenomenon of "roaring rails" has been a too-familiar trouble to engineers. The surface of the rails developed ridges at regular distances of an inch or so, and these conugations led to excessive noise and vibrations. On electric tramway system/; tho same trouble appeared in even greater degree; frequently the noise was so excessive that tho rails had to bo ground flat at great expense—only to reveal fresh corrugations as soon as the traffic wa9 resumed. All sorts of explanations were offered and for a long time tho precise cause of the trouble remained a mystery. Now the problem has been settled by a series of experiments carried out by a committee of British experts on a tramway subway in London, where the rails and track could he altered freely so as to test the various explanations put forward. The conclusion reached is that vibration has nothing to do with the case and that the real cause lies in the action of a very heuvilv-loaded wheel running along the rail. This action makes the material of the rail surface "flow" into waves or corrugations very much as an ordinary road surface flows into waves mule 1 :' the action of a steam roller. The remedy therefore lies in the use of harder rails and, where possible, of larger wheels.'