Railway track

New railway concrete sleeper

A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as a train track or permanent way (often "perway"[1] in Australia or "P Way" in Britain[2]), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, British English) and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.

  1. ^ W. S. Ramson, ed. (1988). The Australian National Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 473. ISBN 0195547365.
  2. ^ Iain Ellis, ed. (2010). Ellis' British Railway Engineering Encyclopedia. lulu.com. p. 291. ISBN 978-1-4461-8190-4.

Developed by StudentB