DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND

AUTOMATION ENGINEERING

AMITY UNIVERSITY, KOLKATA

INDUSTRY INTERNSHIP REPORT

ON
P-WAY MAINTENANCE WORK

SUBMITTED BY-
RAHUL BAID
A91005419006

7th SEMESTER
B.TECH (MAE)
2019-2023

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my faculty
guide, Professor Nirmalya Tripathi Sir for helping me to get this opportunity
and also Mr Gaurav Paul who guided me and help me to gain so much
knowledge about P-way maintenance work during the internship. I would also
like to express a special thanks to M/s Bina Stores Pvt. Ltd. and the person in
charge Mr. Dhruv Ranjan there, who was always ready to help and make me
learn throughout the course of my internship.

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 CONTENT

o INTRODUCTION 4

o COMPONENTS OF P-WAY 5

o STEPS FOR INSPECTION OF RAILS 13

o ALUMINO-THERMIC RAIL WELDING 14

o PQRS MACHINE 16

o CONCLUSION 17

o REFERENCES 17

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 INTRODUCTION
The permanent way is the backbone of any railway system, and the safety and comfort
of the travelling public primarily rests on its proper maintenance. Till a decade ago, the
Indian Railways tracks were mostly manually maintained by beater packing as per a
fixed timetable round the year. In recent years, however, on account of heavier and
faster traffic and due to economic considerations, modern methods of track maintenance
such as measured shovel packing, mechanized maintenance, and directed track
maintenance have been tried and are in vogue on some sections of Indian Railways,
particularly on high-speed routes.

The railway track of permanent nature is called permanent way or permanent track. In
other words, a permanent way is the combination of rails, fitted on sleepers and
resting on ballast and subgrade.

Mechanical maintenance of the track has been introduced on about 14,500 km track
routes and the rest of the track is maintained through manual labour. The labour force
directly employed for this task is about 190,000. About 3000 km of track is being
maintained at present by measured shovel packing, which is an improved method of
manual packing. A need-based directed track maintenance system, which initiates
maintenance work only when there is actual requirement, is being increasingly
introduced in order to eliminate unnecessary maintenance work. It makes the labour
force more productive. About 20,000 km of track is covered by this system. A major
portion of the track, however, continues to be maintained on a predetermined cyclic
programme by the manual method of maintenance, i.e., better packing.

PURPOSE OF PERMANENT WAY

The purpose of the permanent way is to provide a permanent facility for safe and
quick movements of trains between the starting and destination station.

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 COMPONENTS OF A PERMANENT WAY
The following are the component parts of a
permanent way:

A. Rails
B. Sleepers
C. Ballast
D. Fixtures and Fastenings
E. Sub-grade or formation

In a permanent way, rails are joined either by welding or by using fish plates and are
fixed with sleepers by using different types of fastenings. Sleepers are properly placed
and packed with ballast. Ballast is placed on the prepared sub-grade called formation.

Requirements of an Ideal Permanent Way

The following are the principal requirements of an ideal permanent way:

1. The gauge should be uniform and correct.

2. Both the rails should be at the same level in a straight track.

3. On curves proper super elevation should be provided to the outer rail.

4. The permanent way should be properly designed so that the load of the train is
uniformly distributed over the two rails

5. The track should have enough lateral strength

6. The radii and super elevation, provided on curves, should be properly designed.

7. The track must have certain amount of elasticity.

8. All joints, points and crossings should be properly designed.

9. Drainage system of permanent way should be perfect.

10. All the components of permanent way should satisfy the design requirements

11. It should have adequate provision for easy renewals and repairs.

12.The initial cost of construction, as well as the maintenance cost of the track,
should be as minimum as possible.

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 RAILS
Rails are steel girders placed an end to end to provide a level and continuous surface
for the movement of trains. The rails provide the level and continuous surface for the
movement of trains. The rails provide a smooth pathway to trains. The pathway has
very low friction.
The rails used in the construction of railway track are of following types:
1. Double headed rails: The rail sections, whose foot and head are of
same dimensions, are called Double headed or Dumb-bell rails. In
the beginning, these rails were widely used in the railway track. The
idea behind using these rails was that when the head had worn out
due to rubbing action of wheels, the rails could be inverted and
reused. But by experience it was found that their foot could not be
used as running surface because it also got corrugated under the
impact of wheel loads.

2. Bull headed rails: The rail section whose head dimensions are more
than that of their foot are called bull headed rails. In this type of rail
the head is made little thicker and stronger than the lower part by
adding more metal to it. These rails also require chairs for holding
them in position. Bull headed rails are especially used for making
points and crossings.

3. Flat footed rails: The rail sections having their foot rolled to flat are
called flat footed rails. It was initially thought that the flat footed
rails could by fixed directly to wooden sleepers and would eliminate
chairs and keys required for the B.H. rails. But later on, it was
observed that heavy train loads caused the foot of the rail to sink
into the sleepers and making the spikes loose. To remove this
defect, steel bearing plates were used in between flat footed rails
and the wooden sleeper. These rails are most commonly used in
India.

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 SLEEPERS
Sleepers are transverse members of the track placed below the rails to support and fix
them in position. Sleepers serve the following functions:
A. To hold the rails to proper gauge.
B. To transfer the loads from rails to the ballast.
C. To support and fix the rails in proper position.
D. To keep the rails at a proper level in straight tracks and at proper super
elevation on curves.
E. To provide elastic medium between the rails and the ballast.
F. To provide stability to the permanent way on the whole.

The following are the requirements of good sleepers:

1. The sleepers should be sufficiently strong to act as a beam under loads.
2. The sleepers should be economical.
3. They should maintain correct gauge.
4. They should provide sufficient bearing area for the rail.
5. The sleepers should have sufficient weight for stability.
6. Sleepers should facilitate easy fixing and taking out of rails without disturbing
them.
7. They should facilitate easy removal and replacement of ballast.
8. They should not be pushed out easily of their position in any direction under
maximum forces of the moving trains.
9. They should be able to resist impact and vibrations of moving trains.
10. They should be suitable to each type of ballast.

TYPES OF SLEEPERS:
Sleepers are of the following types:
➢ Wooden Sleepers: These sleepers are regarded
to be the best as they satisfy all the
requirements of good sleepers and are the only
sleeper suitable for track circuiting. The life of
wooden sleepers depends upon their ability to
resist wear, attack by white ants and quality of
timber used.

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 ➢ Steel Sleepers: These sleepers consist of
steel throughs made of 6 mm thick sheets,
with its both ends bend down to check the
running out of ballast. At the time of pressing
of sleepers, an inward slope of 1 in 20 on
either side is provided to achieve required tilt
of rails. The standard length of these is 2680
mm.

➢ Cast Iron Sleepers: The sleepers made of

cast iron, known as cast iron sleepers, have
been extensively used in India as compared
to other countries in the world.

➢ Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) sleepers:

These are of two types-
a. Through type- This is also known as one piece or mono-block
sleeper. In this type of sleeper cracks develop on the tension side
when stressed. These cracks are
very small and almost invisible
but tend to enlarge with the
repetition of impact loading,
causing failure.
b. Block and tie type- This is also
known as one piece or mono-
block sleeper. In this type of
sleeper cracks develop on the
tension side when stressed. These cracks are very small and almost
invisible but tend to enlarge with the repetition of impact loading,
causing failure.

➢ Pre-stressed Concrete sleepers: Prestressed concrete sleepers are now-a-days

extensively used in Indian Railways. These sleepers have high initial cost but
are very cheap in long run due to their long life. In these sleepers, high tension
steel wires are used. These wires are stretched by hydraulic jack to give
necessary tension in the wires. The concrete is then put under a very high initial
compression. These sleepers are heavily damaged in caser of derailment or
accidents of trains.

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 BALLAST

Ballast is the granular material usually

broken stone or any other suitable
material which is spread on the top of
railway formation and around the
sleepers. Materials used as ballast are-
broken stone, gravel, sand, ashes,
kankar, blast furnace slag, brick ballast,
etc. Ballast in railway track performs the
following functions:

1. To hold the sleepers in position and preventing the lateral and longitudinal
movement.
2. To distribute the axle load uniform from sleepers to a large area of formation.
3. To provide elasticity to the track. It acts as as elastic mat between subgrade and
sleepers.
4. To provide easy means of maintaining the correct levels of the two rails in a
track.
5. To drain rain water from the track.
6. To prevent the growth of weeds inside the track.

Characteristics of good ballast are as follows:

A. It should have sufficient strength to resist crushing under heavy loads of
moving trains.
B. It should be durable enough to resist abrasion and weathering action.
C. It should have rough and angular surface so as to provide good lateral and
longitudinal stability to the sleepers.
D. It should have good workability so that it can be easily spread of formation.
E. It should be cheaply available in sufficient quantity near and along the track.
F. It should not make the track dusty or muddy due to its crushing to powder
under wheel loads.
G. It should allow for easy and quick drainage of the track.
H. It should not have any chemical action on metal sleepers and rails.

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 FIXTURES AND FASTENINGS
Fixtures and fastenings are fittings requires for joining of rails end to end and also for
fixing the rails to sleepers in a track. Rail fixtures and fastenings have the following
functions:
1. To join the rails end to end to form full length of track.
2. To fix the rails to sleepers.
3. To maintain the correct alignment of the track.
4. To provide proper expansion gap between rails.
5. To maintain the required tilt of rails
6. To set the points and crossings in proper position.

Fixtures and fastenings commonly used in a permanent way are of following types:
A. Fish Plates: Fish plates are used in rail
joints to maintain the continuity of the
rails. These are manufactured of steel
and are so designed that they fit in
between the head and foot of the rail.

B. Bearing Plates: Bearing plates are cast

iron or steel plates placed in between the
Flat Footed Rails and wooden sleepers of
a railway track. Flat Footed Rails if fixed
directly on wooden sleepers sink in the
sleeper due to the heavy loads of trains
and thus loosen the spikes. To overcome
this difficulty bearing plates are used
under these rails to distribute the load
over a wider area and bring the intensity
of pressure within limit.

C. Spikes: Spikes are used to fix rails to wooden sleepers. Spikes are of following
types-
• Dog Spikes- Dog spikes are the cheaper type of spikes which
hold the rails at correct gauge and can be easily fixed and
removed. Four dog spikes are used per sleeper, two on either side

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 of the rail. The disadvantage of dog spikes is that these become
loose under the wave action caused by the moving train.
• Round Spikes- Round spikes are used for fixing chairs of Bull-
Headed rails to wooden sleepers and also for fixing slide chairs
of points and crossings. These have either cylindrical or
hemispherical head and blunt end.
• Screw Spikes- Screw spikes are tapered screws with V-threads.
Their head is circular with a square projection and are used to
fasten rails with wooden sleepers. The holding power of these
spikes is more than double to that of dog spikes and can resist the
lateral thrust better than the dog spikes.
• Elastic Spikes- These give better grip and result in reduction of
wear and tear of rail. The advantage of this type of spike is that it
is not pulled up by the wave action of the moving train.

D. Bolts: Different types of bolts are used as described below-

o Fish Bolts- Fish bolts are used for connecting fish plates with the
rails. Four bolts are required for each pair of fish plates. These
bolts are inserted from outside the track and bolted on the inside
of the track. These bolts get loosened due to vibration of moving
train and hence these are to be tightened time ot time. Too much
tightening of bolts is prohibited as it prevents free expansion or
contraction of rails due to temperature vibrations.
o Hook Bolts- Hook bolts are also known as dog bolts due to the
shape of their heads. These bolts are used to fix sleepers which
rest directly on a girder. Two bolts per sleeper are used.
o Fang Bolts- Fang bolts are used for fixing side chairs to sleepers.
These are alternative to screw or round spikes. The fang bolts are
found to be more effective but are not generally used, because
fixing and removal of these bolts are difficult.

Fig. Fish Bolts Fig. Hook Bolts Fig. Fang Bolts

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 E. Keys: These are small tapered pieces of timber or steel used to fix rails to
chairs on metal sleepers. Keys are of two types-
• Wooden Keys- These are small straight or tapered pieces of
timber. These are cheap and Easily prepared. These are not
strong and become loose under vibrations. These require frequent
maintenance.
• Metal Keys- These are small tapered or spring like pieces of
steel. These keys are much more durable than wooden keys.

FORMATION OR SUB-GRADE
The natural or constructed formation has to bear the weight of traffic transmitted via
the rails, baseplates, sleepers and ballast. This weight must be distributed sufficiently
so that the formation can take the load without significant deformation.

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 STEPS FOR INSPECTION OF RAILS

SUPPLY OF RAILS: Rails are generally supplied from the manufacturer in 18.3m
(60 ft) lengths, although shorter lengths, drilled both ends, are available for use on the
inner rail of curved, jointed track. Rail tracks are embedded with its weight,
manufacturing year, etc. All fish bolt holes will have been cold expanded.
When shorter lengths are required, the rails must be ordered undrilled or "drilled one
end" and cut to the required length and drilled in the depot or on site.

STORAGE OF RAILS: Rails are to be stored on an area smooth, level having a firm
base. Concrete hardstanding is ideal but well compacted earth is acceptable. Base
supports should be provided at regular intervals along the length of the rail, with
special attention being paid to the supports near the rail ends.

INVESTIGATION OF PRE-INSTALLED RAILS: All rails must be visually

examined. USFD (Ultrasonic Flaw Detector) is used for track inspections to find any
defects, cracks present there. All rail defects should be marked in paint in the web of
the rail, recorded and kept under special observation.
When a broken rail or a defective rail is discovered in the running line, the first and
immediate duty is to take the necessary action to protect traffic and to advise the local
operating staff.

POSITION OF JOINTS: Care should be taken to ensure that the appropriate length
rails are used to obtain joints squarely opposite each other. Each jointed rail end must
not have more than two fish bolt holes, except where six hole fishplates are in use.
Plain line running rails with more holes than standard within fishplate limits should be
replaced at the first opportunity.

CUTTING OF RAILS: All rails must be cut by disc or by saw. Any flame cut rails
will be rejected and not form part of any track.

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INSTALLATION OF NEW OR REPLACEMENT RAILS: When new or
replacement rails are laid into existing jointed track, the old rails, where practicable,
should be cut back to take the full length of the new rails. Site closure rails in jointed
track must not be less than 9m (30 ft) in length between fish plated joints and must be
supported by at least 12 sleepers.

DEPTH OF NEW OR REPLACEMENT RAILS: The greatest difference in rail

depth between adjacent rails of the same nominal section which can be welded
together economically using pre- formed moulds currently available for the alumino-
thermic welding process is 9mm.

ALUMINO-THERMIC RAIL WELDING

Alumino-thermic welding is a welding process in

which the rails are joined with the help of molten
metal by means of an exothermic reaction.
Thermite mixture consists of a metal oxide
(usually iron oxide) and aluminium powder. The
following exothermic reaction occurs which
produces enough heat required for joining to take
place.

Preliminary steps to follow before welding:

• Preparation of rail ends to be welded.
• Gap between rail ends shall be measured by a gauge and it must be 25 ± 1 mm.
• The rail fastenings for at least five sleepers on either side of the proposed weld
shall be loosened
• The rail fastenings for at least five sleepers on either side of the proposed weld
shall be loosened
• Gap between rail ends may be rechecked after completion of alignment.

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Steps to follow while welding:

• Fixing of mould: A refractory mould is fastened around the rail gap by means
of steel mould shoes. The gap between mould and the rail shall be packed
firmly with luting sand to prevent leakage of liquid weld metal. These moulds
should have adequate permeability for escape of mould gases and adequate
reinforcement to avoid mould crushing during welding.
• Preheating: The rail ends should be uniformly pre-heated throughout the rail
section with specially designed compressed air petrol burner for about 4 to 5
minutes, to achieve a temperature of around 600 ± 20°C.
• Portion preparation: The ‘portion’ (aluminium powder and iron oxide in the
ratio of 1:3 by weight), should be thoroughly hand mixed and poured into the
crucible striking the crucible wall so that the bottom plugging remains
undisturbed.
• Welding: After preheating and adding the portion, the sparkler should be
ignited and inserted in the portion at the centre top to start the exothermic
reaction of the aluminium powder and iron oxide. The metal fills the mould and
the slag is discharged into slag bowls. By the time the reaction is complete, the
burner shall be removed quickly and the gap closed with a dried sand core in
case of central pouring to prevent loss of heat and turbulence during flow of
metal.

Steps to follow post-welding:

• The weld area must be kept around the joint for at least 20 minutes.
• The wedges used for aligning should be removed and joint sleepers which were
shifted to obtain the clear gap should be re-shifted to the original location and
repacked.
• The first train should be allowed to pass on the newly welded joint only after
30 minutes have elapsed since pouring of weld metal.
• After a cooling period, the excess metal at the head of rail is removed and
grinding of the welded rail is done.

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 PQRS MACHINE

PQRS (Plasser's Quick Relaying System) is a process wherein old rail along with
sleepers is removed & is replaced by a completely new rail panel with the help of
Track Laying Equipment (TLE). It is essentially a semi-mechanised system of track
renewal. PQRS consists of self-propelled cranes which move on an auxiliary track
having the same centre line as that of track to be relayed.
It consists of following components:

• Side Frames: The machine contains two vertical side frames that has two
vertical sliding frames.
• Bridge: Sliding frames are joined together with horizontal cross frame known
as bridge. The Motive Power, hydraulic and electrical assemblies are installed
over the bridge. The whole bridge is raised /lowered to facilitate lifting of
panels.
• Sleeper Gripper: On the underside of the bridge, grippers to pick up sleepers is
provided. Gripping of sleepers by its end is done by two angles welded to the
grippers
• Rail Clamps: On the end side of the frame scissors type clamps are provided to
hold the rails/panels.
• Turn Table: To facilitate turning of portal cranes for placing it on the BFR and
off tracking in mid-section, a turntable is provided. On the BFR a wooden
platform is provided to support the turn table.

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 CONCLUSION

This internship helped me in understanding different techniques and different

ways to maintain the tracks. I have learnt about Alumino-thermic welding; rail
cutting, rail carrying, rail changing using PQRS machine; Tamping, packing
and ballast loading and unloading. During the period of internship, I was taught
about some machines like how to use rail drilling machine, abrasive rail cutting
machine, weld trimmer, grinding machine etc. However, doing the internship
was a challenging task but it was very interesting to learn so much.

REFERENCES

• https://www.scribd.com/doc/137510013/Indian-Railway-P-Way-Manual
• https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/prd/PR/IR
PWM2020
• https://vdocument.in/indian-railway-pway-manualpdf.html

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