Railroad 101

Introduction to Railroading

Background Information

• Experts in the rail industry have created a ton of information to share with students. The link below is to a PowerPoint presentation on the ver-changing railroad-

https://www.wsorrailroad.com/resources/e_central_consortium_pp.ppt 

Bailey Rail Yard, North Platte, NE

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/facilities/bailey/index.shtml

Railroad Terminology• This website includes a pdf of terms:

– http://www.srpedd.org/commuterrail/Rail%20Terminology.pdf

• The Indiana DOT lists 41 terms on its website at– http://www.state.in.us/indot/files/append_a.pdf

• The below website lists about 1000 terms of the railroad industry– http://www.icrr.net/terms.htm

Basic Terms• Flat car A railroad freight car without sides or a roof. • Low-bottom flat car A railroad freight car that is depressed in the

center to permit overhead clearance for bridges and tunnels. • Trailer A large transport vehicle designed to be hauled by a truck or

tractor. • Piggy-back method of transportation in which truck trailers are

carried on train cars specially designed for truck trailers or containers.

• Double-stacked Two containers (often truck trailers) loaded one on top of the other for transport on low bottom railroad flatcars. This system may also be referred to as multi-deck operations for transporting containers of various types.

Basic Terms Continued…• Inter-modal A transport system that enables the direct

transfers of containers between different transportation types. Freight is usually contained in a box designed to be carried by different modes of transport that permits same box or container to be transferred between road, rail, sea, inland waterways, and air transport without transferring the contents to another container.

• Tank car A railcar consisting of a container capable of transporting liquids or compressed gas.

• Van A railroad car used for carrying baggage or freight

Types of Rail Cars• Car Types• Automobile Racks• Boxcars• Covered Hoppers• Flat Cars including Cente

rbeams• Gondola Cars• Open-Top Hoppers• Intermodal Equipment• Tank Cars

The types listed above go to links on the Union Pacific Website.

How Trains Work

• How Stuff Works has a great unit on this topic. Please visit this website and follow along with the 7 parts.

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/train.htm

How Diesel Locomotives Work

• How Stuff Works has a great unit on this topic. Please visit this website and follow along with the 7 parts.

• http://science.howstuffworks.com/diesel-locomotive.htm

Train Simulator

Union Pacific Simulator, Mid-Plaines Community College, North Platte, NE

Train Simulator Continued…

Union Pacific Simulator, Mid-Plaines Community College, North Platte, NE

Train Simulator Continued…

Union Pacific Simulator, Mid-Plaines Community College, North Platte, NE