Analysis of Rail Defect Data from the Burlington Northern Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad

摘要

Rail descriptive and defect occurrence information from the Burlington Northern and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads is given and analyzed. Track data includes information on track type, when laid, maintenance schedules, etc. The objectives and approaches of several comparative analyses are summarized. Results indicate that year laid is an important factor associated with defect rate, with effects of traffic loads also often apparent, although time effect of tonnage over track on older rail was not determined. Recommendations for future work include refinement of the regression analyses performed in the study, and expansion of the model, among others.