Track checker explained

A track checker is a small railway carriage used in the United States and Ireland to audit the gauge and integrity of railway tracks. The first track checkers were simply people that walked the tracks, making sure that the tracks were not damaged and that the switches were working.[1] These people were also called track walkers.[2] [3] Track walkers are famously still employed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority maintaining New York City Subway lines.[4]

A modern track checker, however, is a small carriage on wheels, about the same size as a Smart Car, and can be automated or driven by one engineer, who is also known as a "Track checker." This carriage, reaching speeds of 30to, drives along the tracks of a railway.[5]

References

  1. Book: Contract Record: A Weekly Journal of Building, Contracting, Engineering, Public Works, Municipal Progress, Advance Information . 1928 . H.C. MacLean Publications Limited . en.
  2. Web site: Railroads and the Making of Modern America Search . 2024-05-06 . railroads.unl.edu.
  3. News: 1934-03-26 . Subway Track-Walker Killed. . 2024-05-06 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  4. Web site: Gonnerman . Jennifer . 2008-05-02 . The Dangerous World of a Subway Trackworker -- New York Magazine - Nymag . 2024-05-06 . New York Magazine . en.
  5. AITC and CSSP 2023 Proceedings. Accessed from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aditya-Tripathi-25/publication/370230085_AITC_and_CSSP_2023_Proceedings/links/64477ee8d749e4340e3689c6/AITC-and-CSSP-2023-Proceedings.pdf#page=286