From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Clearance car
Type of railroad car
Type of railroad car
A clearance car is a type of railroad car in maintenance of way service. Its purpose is to check the clearances around the tracks and ensure that trains conforming to the railroad's standard loading gauge or dynamic envelope will not encounter any obstruction. Additionally, by measuring the actual clearances along a route, the railroad can determine whether outsize loads can be accommodated along that route, and the largest size feasible.
Design
Early clearance cars simply consisted of an outline of the system loading gauge attached to a railroad car, which would be towed along the route to ensure the clearances were still sufficient.
Later clearance cars functioned by using physical feelers—rods which extended from the car in all directions which would be deflected back by obstructions. These would be connected to instrumentation which displayed the actual clearance at that point. These feelers have an advantage in that they bounce back and do not break if they do hit something.
Subsequently, clearance cars using lasers for measurement have come into service. These are generally HiRail trucks – road vehicles with supplemental rail wheels.
Benefits
The clearance car allowed accurate and speedy measurement of the clearances for a structure. Generally they were only owned by larger railroads; other railroads sometimes leased them for short periods. Some were self-propelled, while others were locomotive-hauled.
Gallery
File:Structure Gauging Train at York station.jpg|Structure gauging train at York Station File:TSHR Structure Gauge Test Car 02.jpg|Taiwan High Speed Rail clearance car File:Railroad clearance car.jpg|Railroad clearance car front view
References
References
- (6 December 2002). "Close-Clearance Conditions Near Railroad Tracks". Iowa Department of Transportation.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Clearance car — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report