GB2092351A - Railway marshalling yards - Google Patents

Abstract

A railway marshalling yard includes a number of retarding devices 19 associated with a railway track 11, for operation on wagons rolling on the track, and a control member, for example a suitable computer 31, operable in response to information relating to the weight of a wagon or a cut of wagons, to determine which retarding devices shall be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons and which, if any, shall not be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons. In this way all wagons and all cuts of wagons are subject to substantially the same rate of deceleration. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Railway marshalling yards This invention relates to railway marshalling yards.

It is known to employ, in railway marshalling yards, retarding devices each of which is mounted on or adjacent a railway track, is engageable directly or indirectly by a wheel of a wagon passing the device and is of such nature that it can retard the speed of a wagon. Such retardation may be effected only when the speed of a wagon is in excess of a certain value.

One such device, which is hydraulic in its operation, is disclosed in the specification of United Kingdom Patent No. 1,328,086.

The retarding effect of these devices on a heavy wagon or on a heavy cut of connected wagons is not as great as it is on a wagon or a cut of connected wagons which is not so heavy. Consequently, if a heavy wagon or a heavy cut of connected wagons is acted upon by such a device or group of devices shortly after a wagon or a cut of connected wagons of less weight has been acted upon by the device or a group of such devices, there is a possibility of the latter wagon or cut of connected wagons catching up to and hitting the former wagon or cut of connected wagons. The impact caused thereby can damage a wagon.

Further, with the points system being used in the railway marshalling yard, differences in retardation between particular wagons, or cuts of wagons, could adversely affect the correct routing of following wagons, or cuts of connected wagons, into their intended sidings, or such correct routing could be prevented altogether.

It is an object of this invention to provide a railway marshalling yard in which the possibility of such impacts is reduced and in which correct wagon routing is less likely to be adversely affected.

According to the invention, a railway marshalling yard includes a plurality of retarding devices associated with a railway track, and a control member, operable in response to information relating to the weight of a wagon or a cut of wagons, to determine which retarding devices shall be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons and which, if any, shall not be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons, whereby all wagons and all cuts of wagons are subject to substantially the same rate of deceleration.

The control member may be a suitably programmed computer. As one alternative, the control member could be manually-operated.

Each retarding device may be of the kind which is engageable, directly or indirectly, on the wheels of a wagon and, if it not to be operable on the wheels of a wagon, the wheel-engageable part thereof may be pulled away from its position of engagement with the wheels, say by a movable element, suitably controlled by said control member, which may for example be electrically-operable, or alternatively pneumatically- or hydraulically-operable.

One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail belowwith reference to drawings which illustrate only one specific embodiment, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation in plan of a part of a railway marshalling yard in accordance with the invention, Figure2 is an enlarged side elevation, viewed in the direction of the arrow II on Figure 1, showing six retarding devices attached to part of the railway track shown in Figure 1, and, Figure 3 is a cross-section of a rail of the track taken alone the line Ill-Ill on Figure 2 and showing one of the retarding devices attached to that rail.

As shown in the drawings the railway marshalling yard includes a railway track 11 comprising, in conventional manner, rails 12, 13 and sleepers 14.

The track carries four groups 15,16,17, 18of retarding devices 19, each device being of the kind which is directly engageable by the wheels of a wagon (not shown) when rolling along the track during wagon marshalling operations. Part of one such wheel is shown at 20 in Figure 2. Each group 15, 16, 17, 18 comprises six pairs of retarding devices 19, one of each pair being mounted on the rail 12 and the other of each pair being mounted on the other rail 13. Each retarding device 19 is secured to its rail by means of a pair of studs 21,22 which project from the casing 23 of the device and pass through respective apertures 24, 25 in the rail, a suitable nut as at 26 being applied to each stud in the manner shown in Figure 3.Such a retarding device, which in this embodiment is hydraulic in its operation, is similar to that disclosed in the specification of United Kingdom Patent No. 1,328,086, but is further provided with means for rendering it inoperable. Such means includes an element 27, having a flanged portion 28, which is retractable into the casing 23 by an electrically-operable actuator (now shown) housed within the casing. On commencement of such retraction the flanged portion 28 engages the domed head 29 of the cylinder 30 of the retarding device and causes the cylinder, like the element 27 to retract sufficiently far into the casing 23 that the head 29, which is the wheel-engageable part of the retarding device, is no longer operable upon the wheel 20 as it passes over the device, the device thereby then having no retarding effect upon the associated wagon.

All the groups 15, 16, 17, 18 of retarding devices 19 are in this embodiment under the control of a computer 31 disposed in a control tower which forms part of the equipment of, and overlooks, the marshalling yard. The computer in turn is connected by electrical transmission means 32 to receive input signals from an input device in the form of a suitable weighing apparatus 33 which is disposed in association with the track 11 immediately before the groups of retarding devices as shown in Figure 1. As during marshalling operations each wagon or cut of connected wagons, on its way towards the groups of retarding devices, crosses the weighing apparatus, electrical signals corresponding to the weight of the fully-loaded, partly-loaded, or unloaded wagon or cut of connected wagons, as the case may be, are transmitted by way of the means 32 to the computer 31.

The computer is programmed so that when it receives from the weighing apparatus 33 information relating to the weight of a wagon, or alternatively from another and suitable weighing apparatus (not shown) information relating to the weight of a cut of connected wagons, it can determine which retarding devices 19 will be operative to have a retarding effect on the wagon or cut of connected wagons, and which retarding devices will not have a retarding effect thereon.

As shown in Figure 1,transmission means 34 in the form of suitable electrical conductors is taken from the computer 31 to all the retarding devices 19 in the group 15, suitable cross-lines which are provided as at 35 and which connect the devices of each pair, facilitating the linking of all the devices 19 in the group together so that when an electrical signal is transmitted from the computer through the means 34 operation of the electrically-operable actuator of each retarding device is initiated, whereupon the respective element 27 and cylinder 30 are retracted into the casing 23. Thus all the retarding devices 19 of that group 15 are rendered inoperable simultaneously.

As also shown in Figure 1,transmission means 36, 37, 38, also in the form of suitable electrical conductors, are respectively taken from the computer 31 to the retarding devices 19 of the groups 16, 17,18 and, as with the group 15, suitable cross-lines as at 39, 40, 41 connect the devices of each pair so as to facilitate the linking of all the devices 19 in each of the respective groups.

Thus, when an electrical signal is transmitted through any of the means 36, 37, 38 from the computer to the respective groups 16, 17, 18 of the retarding devices, the electrically-operable actuators of the devices of the respective groups are all operated together and those devices are rendered inoperable simultaneously.

The transmission means are preferably all laid in conduits (not shown) to afford protection against inadvertent damage.

The wagon weight-sensitive control system described is so arranged that when a wagon or a cut of connected wagons with a certain weight is passing over the groups of retarding devices, only one group of retarding devices, say the group 15, will be operative on the wagon or on the cut of connected wagons because the transmission means 36, 37, 38 all conduct signals to the devices 19 of the groups 16, 17, 18 and render them inoperative on the wagon wheels.

When a heavier wagon or cut of connected wagons is passing over the groups of retarding devices, the control system ensures that only two groups of retarding devices, say the groups 15, 16, will be operative on the wagon or the cut of connected wagons.

When a yet heavier wagon or cut of connected wagons is passing overthe groups of retarding devices, the control system ensures that three groups of retarding devices, say the groups 15,16, 17, will be operative on the wagon or the cut of connected wagons.

When an even heavier wagon or cut of connected wagons is passing over the groups of retarding devices, no signals are conducted by the computer through the transmission means 34, 36, 37,38 to any of the retarding devices 19, thus, since none of the electrically-operable actuators are operated to retract the cylinders 30, all four groups 15, 16, 17, 18 of retarding devices will be operative on the wagon or cut of connected wagons.

The system ensures that whatever the weight of individual wagons, or cut of connected wagons, being caused to roll along the track 11 during wagon marshalling operations, those wagons are all subjected to substantially the same rate of deceleration and thus collision between wagons otherwise due to one catching another up is avoided. Further, whateverthe points system being used in the railway marshalling yard, correct routing of following wagons, or cuts of connected wagons, into their intended sidings is less likely adversely to be affected.

Although in the embodiment above described with reference to the drawings the retraction of each of the elements 27 and thus of the cylinders 30 of the retarding devices 19 is effected by an electricallyoperable actuator, in alternative embodiments of the invention said elements may instead be pneumatically or alternatively hydraulically operated, a suitable and respective piston being provided on or in association with each of the elements, which piston for retraction of the respective element is subjected to pneumatic or hydraulic pressure under the control of the electrical signals conducted from the computerto the groups of retarding devices by way of the transmission means.As in the embodiment above described with reference to the drawings, each element, now operated by its piston, engages the domed head of the cylinder of the retarding device to pull the cylinder downwardly to its retracted position so that it cannot be engaged by the wheel of a wagon as it passes the devices.

Further, although in the embodiment above described with reference to the drawings a suitable weighing apparatus 33 is provided immediately before the groups of retarding devices, in alternative embodiments of the invention the input signals to the computer 31 may instead be derived from punched cards or other information carrier previously prepared from a knowledge of the weights of wagons or cuts of connected wagons which are to pass over the groups of retarding devices.

Finally, although in the embodiment above described with reference to the drawings the control member, operable in response to information relating to the weight of a wagon or a cut of connected wagons, is a suitably prorammed computer, in other embodiments the control member may be a manually-operated device. In this case the means for rendering the retarding devices inoperable may even be in the form of mechanical linkages suitably arranged and suitably operable on respective groups of the retarding devices, those linkages being adapted to ensure that all the devices of a group are rendered inoperable on the wagon wheels simultaneously.

Claims (16)

1. A railway marshalling yard including a plurality of retarding devices associated with a railway track, for operation on wagons rolling on the track, and a control member, operable in response to information relating to the weight of a wagon or a cut of wagons, to determine which retarding devices shall be operable on that wagon orthat cut of wagons and which, if any, shall not be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons, whereby all wagons and all cuts of wagons are subject to substantially the same rate of deceleration.

2. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control member is a suitably prorammed computer.

3. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each retarding device is of the kind which is engageable, directly or indirectly, on the wheels of a wagon.

4. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 3, wherein when a said retarding device is not to be operable on the wheels of a wagon, the wheelengageable part thereof is pulled away from its position of engagement with said wheels.

5. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 4, wherein said wheel-engageable part of each said retarding device is pulled away from its said position of engagement with said wheels by a movable element suitably controlled by said control member.

6. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 5, wherein said movable element is electricallyoperable.

7. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 5, wherein said movable element includes or is associated with a piston which is pneumaticallyoperable.

8. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 5, wherein said movable element includes or is associated with a piston which is hydraulicallyoperable.

9. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein operation of said movable element is initiated by electrical signals transmitted by said control member.

10. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said control member receives input signals for its operation from an input device which determines said information.

11. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 10, wherein said input device comprises a weighing apparatus suitably adapted to determine the weight of said wagons or said cuts of wagons before they reach said retarding devices.

12. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said control member receives input signals for its operation from an input device which is capable of storing said information.

13. A railway marshalling yard as claimed in claim 12, wherein said input device utilises punched cards previously prepared from a knowledge of the weights of said wagons or said cuts of wagons.

14. A retardation control system, suitable for use in a railway marshalling yard, including a plurality of retarding devices for association with a railway track and operable on wagons rolling on the track, and a control member, operable in response to information relating to the weight of a wagon or a cut of wagons, to determine which retarding devices shall be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons and which, if any, shall not be operable on that wagon or that cut of wagons, whereby all wagons and all cuts of wagons are subject to substantially the same rate of deceleration.

15. A railway marshalling yard, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A retardation control system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.