Road-rail vehicle

A Road-rail vehicle is a self-propelled vehicle that can be legally used on both roads and rails. They are sometimes referred to as a Hy-rail or HiRail [The term "Hy-rail" is a registered trademark of the Harsco Corporation. Road-rail technology is believed to have been developed by Fairmont Railway Motors Inc (Fairmont Mn) in the 1940s to improve flexibility of vehicle use. Fairmont's Key product - motor section cars, limited the ability for maintenance crews to travel. Fairmont was bought by Harsco in the late 1980s] . They are normally converted rubber-tired road vehicles that have additional steel wheels for running on rails. Because only one set of wheels would logically be used at a time, a pneumatic, or hydraulic system is employed to lower and raise the rail wheels.

Overview

Such vehicles are normally used for permanent way maintenance during engineering possessions of the line. They can be driven on roads to near the site and then convert to rail vehicle for the final journey to the worksite. This avoids both the complex manoeuvres that would be associated with a rail vehicle, and the problem with a road vehicle of accessing the worksite if the worksite is not near a road. Since they are normally converted road vehicles, they would not fare well in a collision with a heavy rolling stock and therefore can only drive on railways under an engineering possession. They are generally designed to be insulated, thus they do not activate track (signalling) circuits.

Road Rail buses

Attempts have been made over the years to design buses and coaches that could operate on both roads and railway tracks. These attempts were never particularly successful. Some were carried out in Britain during the 1930s, on the Nicky Line by LMS, using a Ro-Railer. In Australia, the New South Wales Railways tried road-rail vehicles during the 1970s on New South Wales routes.

The Deutsche Bundesbahn operated a number of buses, called the "Schi-Stra-Bus", that could be fitted with separate bogies in the Koblenz area from the 1950s to 1970s. [http://railfaneurope.net/pix/de/museum/DGEG/Schiene-StrassenBusAtHoorn-3.jpg]

Road Transferable Locomotive

The RTL is a truck prime mover with railway wheels that can be lowered when operating on the railway tracks. It was pioneered by in the early 1990s by Australian National and later refined in Victoria. The idea was to have a locomotive that could transfer from one branch line carrying mainly wheat to another parallel branch line, where the rail connection is very roundabout. The RTL suffered a number of disadvantages. Loads were severely limited when the track was steeply graded. The rubber traction wheels slipped on the steel rails when wet. The life of the rubber tyres was rather short.

The Canadian company Brandt has also converted large truck tractor units for use as locomotives that can move by road to where they are needed. Still mostly used for permanent way maintenance, they can also be employed as thunderbird (rescue) locomotives or even used in normal service, where they are suitable for smaller operators.

Maintenance and shunting

German excavator

Self propelled maintenance vehicles for maintenance of the track and for shunting wagons are much more convenient to use if they can transfer to the road to reposition or otherwise get out of the way. Because relatively light loads are involved, the problems plaguing the Road Transferable Locomotive are avoided.

An example would be a forklift truck fitted with railway wheels and a coupling with which to shunt a wagon or two.

afety issues

Road rail vehicles, particularly those used for inspection purposes, have been involved in a number of serious incidents, including deaths. There has been ongoing discussion regarding maintenance and inspection standards, including load and load distribution, to minimise the risk of failures.

Factors leading to derailment include failed locking equipment, wheel failure, damaged rail wheel support systems, inappropriate tyres, and uneven or over-loading issues.

See also

* Rail car mover - some of which resemble HiRail trucks.
* Railcar
* Maintenance of way
* Unimog
* Roadrailer - a kind of freight wagon
* Trackmobile
* Dual mode transit
* Speeder
* Cater MetroTrolley

Notes

External links

* [http://www.zweiweg.de/ ZWEIWEG International, Germany]
* [http://www.zagro.de/ ZAGRO, Germany]
* [http://cater.fcpl.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid=81/ Hirail(RRV) from CATER]
* [http://www.wsr.org.uk/roadrail.htm The Road Rail Bus] , an experimental bus for road and rail in the 1970s
* [http://www.ariesengineering.com.au/ Aries Engineering, Australia]
* [http://www.dmfatlanta.com/ Diversified Metal Fabricators, USA]
* [http://www.harscotrack.com/ Harsco Track Technologies, USA]
* [http://www.srsrail.com/ SRS Sjölanders Sweden]
* [http://www.railrover.com/ Aquarius Railroad Technologies UK]