Vocabulary Notes

Read and translate the following sentences into Russian

1 Rail – рельс.

2 Track – колея, рельсовый путь.

3 Path – путь. То lay down a track – укладывать путь.

4 Smooth – гладкий, ровный.

5 Passage – поезд, прохождение.

6 Load – нагружать, нагрузка, груз.

The two rails of a track produce a most economical path for the smooth passage of heavily loaded the vehicles at great speed.

7 Sleeper – шпала.

8 Bed – полотно дороги.

9 Resilient – упругий, эластичный.

The ballast provides a resilient bed, keeps the sleepers in the correct position and at the correct level.

10 Formation – земляное полотно.

The ballast distributes the load from the sleepers to a large area on the bed or formation of the track.

11 Fitting – крепление.

The rails are fixed to the sleepers with various types of fittings.

12 Fishplate – стыковочная накладка.

13 Joint – место соединения.

14 Bar – полоса, накладка.

15 Fish bolt – путевой болт.

16 Track bolt – путевой болт.

17 Thread – продевать, проходить насквозь.

The rails are joined together with fishplates or join bars through which fish bolts or track bolts are threaded.

18 Permanent – постоянный, долговременный.

Permanent way – капитальная трасса, верхнее строение пути, железнодорожное полотно.

The combination of rails, sleepers, fittings, ballast, etc is known as the track or permanent way.

19 Conveyance – перевозка, транспортировка.

In some countries temporary tracks were laid for conveyance of earth for the building up or the formation of a railway.

20 Drain – отводить, дренировать. The ballast drains off rain-water.

21 Switch – стрелка, переключатель.

22 Gauge – ширина колеи.

23 Layout – план, проект.

The permanent way was so called to distinguish the final layout from these temporary tracks.

Text 1a The Railway Track

Read and translate the text.

The combination of rails, ballast and' ties is known as the railroad track. The railroad track is also called the "permanent way".

The distance between the rails is known as the railway gauge; the Russian railways have a 1,524 mm gauge. The mechanism which is used to move the trains from one track to another is called a switch (стрелка).

The place where the ends (концы) of the rails meet in the track is called a joint.

The rails rest on ties. In England "ties" are called "sleepers". The ties or sleepers are laid on ballast which is the foundation of the railway track. The best materials for ballast are crushed rock (broken stone) and gravel.

The two rails of a track produce a most economical path for the smooth passage of heavily loaded vehicles at great speed. Sleepers or ties bold the two rails at the exact distance or gauge throughout and transfer the loads from the rails to the ballast. The ballast provides a resilient bed, keeps the sleepers in the correct position and at the correct level, distributes the load from the sleepers to a large area on the bed or formation of the track and drains off rain-water. The rails are fixed to the sleepers with various types of fittings which depend on the type of rail used, and on various other considerations. The rails which are manufactured in standard lengths are joined together with fishplates or joint bars through which fishbolts or track bolts are threaded.

The combination of rails, sleepers, fittings, ballast, etc., is known as the track or permanent way. In some countries, temporary tracks were laid for conveyance of earth for the building up or the formation of a railway, and the permanent way was so called to distinguish the final layout from these temporary tracks.

It is not an easy job to build a railway. The railway is built on a strip of land which is called the right-of-way (полоса отвода).

The right-of-way must be carefully prepared for laying down the tracks. At first, it must be cleared from trees, bushes and then graded (выравнивать) by special machines known as graders.

After the right-of-way is cleared and graded the permanent way is constructed. Ties and rails are laid upon the ballast foundation and the ballast is packed between the ties and on each side of the track to hold the ties in place.