Crossing (train)

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

This article deals with the crossing of railway tracks, for the meeting of two trains in a station on a single-track line see train crossing , for the crossing of two lines see crossing (traffic) .

In the case of railways, an intersection is understood to be the level crossing of two tracks without the possibility of changing tracks with the help of special track constructions,

Track crossing

Track crossing in Illinois , USA

Flat cross with movable double frog tips

Crossing of narrow gauge and standard gauge in Kiskőrös ( Kecskemét narrow gauge network ) - the narrow gauge vehicles cross the standard gauge rails on the wheel flanges

In Cologne-Niehl, a siding of the Ford works crosses the tram tracks by means of arched crosses

Special track constructions enable rail vehicles to cross another, transverse track at the same level without interrupting the journey, but the two routes cannot be used at the same time. Crossing two tracks at the same level is possible with the following equipment:

• Track crossing without moving parts. It is robust and particularly inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, but impairs driving comfort as a result of the unavoidable breaks in the driving edge. A track crossing without moving parts only works if the tracks cross at a not too acute angle . A track crossing requires four frogs , two simple frogs at the ends that correspond to those of points with the same inclination and two double frogs with two opposite frog points in the middle of the crossing . Due to their location next to one another, they create an unmanned position that cannot be completely secured with wheel guides. For this reason, track crossings are only operationally safe up to a slope of about 1: 9.
• Flat crossing with movable double frog tips , they are also known as track cutting in Switzerland . It is used with a particularly flat crossing angle. This is usually the case at multi-track junctions , when the branching track must be passable at high speed. Without the movable double frog tips, the leadless point in the double frogs becomes too long for safe operation. Flat crossings of this type are expensive and maintenance-intensive facilities, but offer uninterrupted driving edges in the double frog area over the track to be crossed.
• Junction switch . It not only enables two tracks to cross, butalso different options for changingtracks, depending on the type of crossing point - single crossing point or double crossing point .
• Crossing with flat groove heart pieces . It is mainly found on trams . Here, the vehicle wheels are guided over the gaps in the track by using flat grooves on their flange tops. Classic tram tires are too narrow to cover a gap in the driving edge with minimal impact between the wing or knee rail and the frog tip. At intersections in the course of the road at around 90 °, this low-impact overflow is not possible anyway. In the past, mixed-gauge crossings between road and railroad were carried out for both systems with flanges if the load on the railway side was not too great.
• A special design of this type of intersection is often found at level crossings between trams and railways. Here, the rails of the railway lines are seamless, while the trams are guided over the railway tracks on their flanges.

Overhead line

Overhead lines must be specially designed at non-acute-angled track crossings (→  Overhead lines ).

• 

  Junction (cross plate)

• 

  Junction (round sheet)

• 

  Intersection (spacer)

See also

• Railroad Crossing
• Intersection