Abstract
On JR Central's conventional lines, approximately 190km of track are replaced annually as one aspect of the company's line maintenance. The replacement work uses rails having a length of 25 meters, which are called standard-length rails, and those having a length of 200m or 150m, which are known as long welded rails. The standard-length rails are transported by rail from the Nagoya Port Materials Center and the long welded rails from the Hamamatsu Rail Center. Previously, this rail transport was carried out using three electric locomotives (EF64, EF58), one diesel locomotive (DD51), and 41 flat cars (open railroad freight cars). However, over 30 years have passed since these vehicles had been manufactured and alternatives were needed because these vehicles have become obsolete, so a railway diesel car type rail transport car was newly developed. [photograph] Standard-length rail transport car & [photograph] long welded rail transport car Figure 1: Series Kiya 97 rail transport carIn developing a rail transport car, use requirements are considerably different from those for passenger vehicles, so the design was implemented so as to take into account factors such as loading conditions, impact of rails laid across cars, and the circumstances during rail unloading. This report will focus particularly on the newly developed bogie and the parts related to the new constant low speed function.
