For a car, the track is the distance between the midpoints of the tire prints left by the car on the road. By its width, you can determine the stability of the car on the highway. It is well known that the wider the track, the more stable the vehicle.
Impact on ride quality
If we talk about transport, then the track can be of any type: tractor, scooter, tram, and even the train. If we are talking about a car, it should be borne in mind that the track dramatically affects the quality of its movement.
The stability of the car when making a turn or overcoming steep slopes provides a wide distance between the wheels.
The difference between the front and rear track is a normal occurrence. An arbitrary decrease in this indicator affects the maneuverability of the machine. If you change the front track and leave the rear unchanged, then it will be impossible to make a turn. Therefore, their ratio in the manufacture of automobiles is carefully calculated and traffic regulations are established.
Track gauge in railway transport
In rail, gauge is a slightly different concept. The width between the inner sides of the rail ends is taken as its width. As we understand it, it cannot be arbitrary, therefore, there are special standards. In different countries, the track gauge is different. The name "narrow gauge", which speaks for itself, is well known. The width of such a railway is measured with a special tool.
How to overcome the problem
Different railway gauge serves as a fundamental obstacle to the transport of goods between countries. To cope with it, you have to spend some effort and, most importantly, time. How is this obstacle overcome? There are several ways to do this:
- The first is the rearrangement of cars on special platforms with wheels corresponding to the gauge. This is the most acceptable and effective method. With the help of special lifts, the cars, previously detached from the wheels, are lifted and rearranged to the platforms.
- The second is the reloading of cars. This is a fairly time-consuming and time-consuming process.
- And the last way. Using special automatic devices carry out the necessary change in gauge. This requires the use of various technologies. This operation can only be carried out with wagons having wheels that can be moved apart in different directions.
Of course, all these problems lead to a loss of time and additional material costs. On the borders of countries with different widths of railway rails, special docking points are created.
Track "Russian"
The emergence of railways with gauges of various widths is associated with the history of rail transport in different countries. For example, the distance between the rails adopted in Russia, the countries of the former Soviet Union, Finland and Mongolia is 1524 mm.
True, by the beginning of the 90s, this figure in the Russian Federation decreased by 4 mm. This was done to increase the stability of the rails during the movement of freight trains. Nevertheless, such a change did not affect the railway communication between the CIS countries, since it does not require re-equipment of trains at the border. However, there is another problem: the rapid wear of wheelsets. Today, so far this difficulty has not been fully overcome.
Narrow gauge
In the USSR, before the beginning of 1980, railroad tracks were widespread with a distance between the rail heads of 750 mm, the so-called narrow gauge tracks. This can be explained by the cheapness of their construction and operation. Another advantage of such a railway is its great maneuverability. The composition on it can perform steeper turns. But a significant drawback is the low speed and instability of the cars. Today, most of these railways are closed.
European track
The generally accepted width of the distance between railway rails in North America, China and Europe (except Finland, the Baltic countries, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus) is 1435 mm. This is the so-called European gauge. A similar width was used in the construction of the first English passenger railway line Manchester-Liverpool.
In 1846, this gauge was legalized by Parliament, so all English railways began to be built with a width of 1435 mm. This distance was accepted in the rest of Europe. In border points, combined gauges are used, for example, from Kaliningrad to the Polish city of Braniewo.
