Diamond that is a little higher than other is???

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OhioHawk

New Member
Hello,

I am Loosing my flippen mind over this one. at one time I had the answer for it. but as with age, I lost it. so here is my question.....

What kind of Diamond is slightly higher as it crosses over the other set of tracks? for Example. I live near Shelby Jct. Ashland Railway Crosses CSX here. on the Crossing itself the Ashland Railway Tracks, actually come up about 2 inch's or so. Over the CSX Track. A CSX person told me that it was a "So called fix" to

1) save the diamond itself 2) to help the CSX trains glide smoothly over them, and not cause the "Pounding" of the diamond. seeing the diamond is so close to residents. They would rather have the in-frequesnt pounding happen on the Ashland Railway Side than the CSX Side. which I agree, when I first moved here, I swear my New (Old) house off 110 was going to implode in itself with the constant CSX slapping the diamond. Though I am a avid Train person.

So does anyone know the exact term used for that type of crossing? and I dont think its a temp thing cause for the past 3 years it has been that way.

Thanks in Advance
 
IIRC, the diamond is built so that the wheel flanges take the load, not the normal wheel (tyre) running surface. The guide sections are very robust construction.
 
From user CG Tower on the pay-per-view site...

These are known as One Way Low Speed (OWLS) diamonds, also known as a "flange bearing diamond" To say there is no flange way is a bit of a misnomer, there IS flange way, but it is shallow and allow for no break in the other lines rail. Be mindful, that OWLS diamonds are only good for 10 mph in the direction of the low speed route. Basically the flange of the wheel carries the weight up and over the opposing rails. Perfectly acceptable in slow speed situations.

They are reliable and not prone to derailments unless the speed it so high. There are two sets of OWLS diamonds here on the I&O line in northwest Ohio at Hamler and Leipsic.

CG Tower
 
If I remember correctly, at Disney California Adventure theme park, the frogs for the passing tracks on the Red Car Trolley use this same flange - bearing technology. Might be worth a look if you happen to visit.
 
The idea is to eliminate the flange gap in crossovers, at least on the high speed section, so the wheels won't hammer the exposed ends of the rails which is a high-maintenance issue only partially mitigated by the use of premium steels. The use of movable frogs is nearly standard on high speed turnouts for the same reason. Looks funky and requires that the 'flyover' section be very low speed because of the high vertical motion of the wheels as they go up and down the ramps.
 




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