Surface Condition Monitoring Of Railway Tracks

Abstract

A network of monitoring devices for monitoring the condition of the surface of railway track rails is described. A monitoring device includes a spectrometer configured to monitor at least one frequency that indicates the presence of a contaminant on a railway track rail and to provide an output indicative of the presence or absence of the contaminant on a railway track rail. The monitoring device also includes a transmitter arranged to transmit its output to a central database. The central database is configured to store data from the monitoring devices in the network over time, establishing historical data of track conditions as monitored by the monitoring devices. A comparator is configured to compare current track conditions over the network with historical track conditions over the network, providing an indication of likely developments of track conditions.

1 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A network of monitoring devices for monitoring a condition of a surface of railway track rails, each of the monitoring devices comprising a spectrometer configured to monitor at least one frequency that indicates the presence of a contaminant on a railway track rail and to provide an output indicative of the presence or absence of the contaminant on a railway track rail, and each of the monitoring devices comprising a transmitter arranged to transmit its output to a central database. 
     
     
         21 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein each spectrometer is configured to monitor a plurality of frequencies that indicate the presence of contaminants on a railway track rail. 
     
     
         22 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein each spectrometer is a Raman spectrometer. 
     
     
         23 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein the monitoring devices are selected from at least one of a handheld device, railway vehicle borne device, track side device, drone mounted device, UAV mounted device, and satellite mounted device. 
     
     
         24 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein said contaminants to be monitored comprise at least one member of the group consisting of Cellulose, Cellulose Acetate, and Tyrosine. 
     
     
         25 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein each monitoring device is configured to compare a monitored value with one or more predetermined value and to provide a corresponding device output that indicates whether the condition of a monitored railway track rail is above or below a predetermined acceptable level. 
     
     
         26 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein each spectrometer output is indicative of both type and amount of contaminant. 
     
     
         27 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein each monitoring device includes an operating interface whereby a user can control operation of the monitoring device. 
     
     
         28 . The network of  claim 20 , further comprising at least one surface conditioning device that is operative to condition the surface of one or more railway track rail in response to data received. 
     
     
         29 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein said surface conditioning device is operative to condition a railway track rail by means of plasma delivered to the rail. 
     
     
         30 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein at least some of said transmitters are wireless transmitters. 
     
     
         31 . The network of  claim 20 , wherein the central database is configured to store data from the monitoring devices over time, thereby to establish historical data of track conditions as monitored by the monitoring devices. 
     
     
         32 . The network of  claim 20 , further comprising a comparator that is configured to compare current track conditions over the network with historical track conditions over the network, thereby to provide an indication of likely developments of track conditions. 
     
     
         33 . A method of monitoring a condition of a surface of railway track rails of a rail network, the method comprising operating monitoring devices of the network of claim  1  to indicate the presence or absence of contaminants on the rails at various locations throughout the network. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , comprising the further step of operating at least one surface conditioning device to condition the surface of a rail in response to data received from the monitoring devices. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the surface conditioning is carried out on a railway vehicle as it travels along the rail. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , carried out as the railway vehicle makes multiple passes along the rail.