Source: http://ecfr.io/Title-49/sp49.4.238.e
Timestamp: 2020-02-28 13:57:42
Document Index: 722859313

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 238', 'art 238', 'art 238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', '§238', 'art 231', '§232', '§238', '§238', '§238', 'art 231', '§232', '§238', '§238', '§238']

[49 CFR 238 → Subpart E] Title 49 Part 238 → Subpart E : Code of Federal Regulations ';
Title 49 Part 238 → Subpart E
Title 49 → Subtitle B → Chapter II → Part 238 → Subpart E
§238.401 Scope.
§238.405 Longitudinal static compressive strength.
§238.407 Anti-climbing mechanism.
§238.409 Forward end structures of power car cabs.
§238.411 Rear end structures of power car cabs.
§238.413 End structures of trailer cars.
§238.415 Rollover strength.
§238.417 Side loads.
§238.419 Truck-to-car-body and truck component attachment.
§238.423 Fuel tanks.
§238.428 Overheat sensors.
§238.433 Draft system.
§238.437 [Reserved]
§238.439 Doors.
§238.443 Headlights.
§238.445 Automated monitoring.
This subpart contains specific requirements for railroad passenger equipment operating at speeds exceeding 125 mph but not exceeding 160 mph. The requirements of this subpart apply beginning on September 9, 1999. As stated in §238.433(b), all such passenger equipment remains subject to the requirements concerning couplers and uncoupling devices contained in Federal statute at 49 U.S.C. chapter 203 and in FRA regulations at part 231 and §232.2 of this chapter.
[64 FR 25660, May 12, 1999, as amended at 83 FR 59219, Nov. 21, 2018]
(a) To form an effective crash refuge for crewmembers occupying the cab of a power car, the underframe of the cab of a power car shall resist a minimum longitudinal static compressive force of 2,100,000 pounds without permanent deformation to the cab, unless equivalent protection to crewmembers is provided under an alternate design approach, validated through analysis and testing, and approved by FRA under the provisions of §238.21.
(b) The underframe of the occupied volume of each trailer car shall resist a minimum longitudinal static compressive force of 800,000 pounds without permanent deformation to the car. To demonstrate compliance with this requirement, the 800,000-pound load shall be applied to the underframe of the occupied volume as it would be transmitted to the underframe by the full structure of the vehicle.
(c) Unoccupied volumes of a power car or a trailer car designed to crush as part of the crash energy management design are not subject to the requirements of this section.
(a) Each power car shall have an anti-climbing mechanism at its forward end capable of resisting an ultimate upward or downward static vertical force of 200,000 pounds. A power car constructed with a crash energy management design is permitted to crush in a controlled manner before the anti-climbing mechanism fully engages.
(b) Interior train coupling points between units, including between units of articulated cars or other permanently joined units of cars, shall have an anti-climbing mechanism capable of resisting an upward or downward vertical force of 100,000 pounds without yielding.
(c) The forward coupler of a power car shall be attached to the car body to resist a vertical downward force of 100,000 pounds for any horizontal position of the coupler without yielding.
This section contains requirements for the forward end structure of the cab of a power car. (A conceptual implementation of this end structure is provided in Figure 1 to this subpart.)
(a) Center collision post. The forward end structure shall have a full-height center collision post, or its structural equivalent, capable of withstanding the following:
(1) A shear load of 500,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint;
(2) A shear load of 150,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint; and
(3) A horizontal, longitudinal force of 300,000 pounds, applied at a point on level with the bottom of the windshield, without exceeding its ultimate strength.
(b) Side collision posts. The forward end structure shall have two side collision posts, or their structural equivalent, located at approximately the one-third points laterally, each capable of withstanding the following:
(1) A shear load of 500,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint; and
(2) A horizontal, longitudinal force of 300,000 pounds, applied at a point on level with the bottom of the windshield, without exceeding its ultimate strength.
(c) Corner posts. The forward end structure shall have two full-height corner posts, or their structural equivalent, each capable of withstanding the following:
(1) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 300,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe, without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint;
(2) A horizontal, lateral force of 100,000 pounds applied at a point 30 inches up from the underframe attachment, without exceeding the yield or the critical buckling stress; and
(3) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 80,000 pounds at its joint with the roof, without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(d) Skin. The skin covering the forward-facing end of each power car shall be:
(1) Equivalent to a 1⁄2 -inch steel plate with a 25,000 pounds-per-square-inch yield strength—material of a higher yield strength may be used to decrease the required thickness of the material provided at least an equivalent level of strength is maintained;
(2) Securely attached to the end structure; and
(3) Sealed to prevent the entry of fluids into the occupied cab area of the equipment. As used in paragraph (d), the term “skin” does not include forward-facing windows and doors.
The rear end structure of the cab of a power car shall be designed to include the following elements, or their structural equivalent. (A conceptual implementation of this end structure is provided in Figure 2 to this subpart.)
(a) Corner posts. The rear end structure shall have two full-height corner posts, or their structural equivalent, each capable of withstanding the following:
(1) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 300,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint; and
(2) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 80,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(b) Collision posts. The rear end structure shall have two full-height collision posts, or their structural equivalent, each capable of withstanding the following:
(1) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 500,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint; and
(2) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 75,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the end structure of a trailer car shall be designed to include the following elements, or their structural equivalent. (A conceptual implementation of this end structure is provided in Figure 3 to this subpart.)
(1) Corner posts. Two full-height corner posts, each capable of withstanding the following:
(i) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 150,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint;
(ii) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral force of 30,000 pounds applied at a point 18 inches up from the underframe attachment without exceeding the yield or the critical buckling stress; and
(iii) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 20,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(2) Collision posts. Two full-height collision posts each capable of withstanding the following:
(i) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 300,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint; and
(ii) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 60,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(b) If the trailer car is designed with an end vestibule, the end structure inboard of the vestibule shall have two full-height corner posts, or their structural equivalent, each capable of withstanding the following (A conceptual implementation of this end structure is provided in Figure 4 to this subpart):
(1) A horizontal, longitudinal shear load of 200,000 pounds at its joint with the underframe without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint;
(2) A horizontal, lateral force of 30,000 pounds applied at a point 18 inches up from the underframe attachment without exceeding the yield or the critical buckling stress;
(3) A horizontal, longitudinal force of 50,000 pounds applied at a point 18 inches up from the underframe attachment without exceeding the yield or the critical buckling stress; and
(4) A horizontal, longitudinal or lateral shear load of 20,000 pounds at its joint with the roof without exceeding the ultimate strength of the joint.
(a) Each passenger car and power car shall be designed to rest on its side and be uniformly supported at the top (“roof rail”) and the bottom chords (“side sill”) of the side frame. The allowable stress in the structural members of the occupied volumes for this condition shall be one-half yield or one-half the critical buckling stress, whichever is less. Minor localized deformations to the outer side skin of the passenger car or power car is allowed provided such deformations in no way intrude upon the occupied volume of each car.
(b) Each passenger car and power car shall also be designed to rest on its roof so that any damage in occupied areas is limited to roof sheathing and framing. The allowable stress in the structural members of the occupied volumes for this condition shall be one-half yield or one-half the critical buckling stress, whichever is less. Deformation to the roof sheathing and framing is allowed to the extent necessary to permit the vehicle to be supported directly on the top chords of the side frames and end frames.
(a) Each passenger car body structure shall be designed to resist an inward transverse load of 80,000 pounds of force applied to the side sill and 10,000 pounds of force applied to the belt rail (horizontal members at the bottom of the window opening in the side frame).
(b) These loads shall be considered to be applied separately over the full vertical dimension of the specified member for any distance of 8 feet in the direction of the length of the car.
(c) The allowable stress shall be the lesser of the yield stress, except as otherwise allowed by this paragraph, or the critical buckling stress. In calculating the stress to show compliance with this requirement, local yielding of the side skin adjacent to the side sill and belt rail, and local yielding of the side sill bend radii at the crossbearer and floor-beam connections is allowed. For purposes of this paragraph, local yielding is allowed provided the resulting deformations in no way intrude upon the occupied volume of the car.
(d) The connections of the side frame to the roof and underframe shall support the loads specified in this section.
(a) The ultimate strength of the truck-to-car-body attachment for each unit in a train shall be sufficient to resist without failure the following individually applied loads: a vertical force equivalent to 2g acting on the mass of the truck; and a force of 250,000 pounds acting in any horizontal direction on the truck, along with the resulting vertical reaction to this load.
(b) Each component of a truck (which include axles, wheels, bearings, the truck-mounted brake system, suspension system components, and any other components attached to the truck by design) shall remain attached to the truck when a force equivalent to 2g acting on the mass of the component is exerted in any direction on that component.
(a) External fuel tanks. Each type of external fuel tank must be approved by FRA's Associate Administrator for Safety upon a showing that the fuel tank provides a level of safety at least equivalent to a fuel tank that complies with the external fuel tank requirements in §238.223(a).
(b) Internal fuel tanks. Internal fuel tanks shall comply with the requirements specified in §238.223(b).
Overheat sensors for each wheelset journal bearing shall be provided. The sensors may be placed either onboard the equipment or at reasonable intervals along the railroad's right-of-way.
[78 FR 16126, Mar. 13, 2013]
(a) Leading and trailing automatic couplers of trains shall be compatible with standard AAR couplers with no special adapters used.
(b) All passenger equipment continues to be subject to the requirements concerning couplers and uncoupling devices contained in Federal Statute at 49 U.S.C. chapter 203 and in FRA regulations at part 231 and §232.2 of this chapter.
In addition to the requirements of §238.112—
(a) The status of each powered, exterior side door in a passenger car shall be displayed to the crew in the operating cab. If door interlocks are used, the sensors used to detect train motion shall be nominally set to operate at 3 mph.
(b) Each powered, exterior side door in a passenger car shall be connected to an emergency back-up power system.
(c) For a passenger car ordered prior to January 28, 2014, and placed in service prior to January 29, 2018, a passenger compartment end door (other than a door providing access to the exterior of the trainset) shall be equipped with a kick-out panel, pop-out window, or other similar means of egress in the event the door will not open, or shall be so designed as to pose a negligible probability of becoming inoperable in the event of car body distortion following a collision or derailment.
[64 FR 25660, May 12, 1999, as amended at 67 FR 19993, Apr. 23, 2002; 78 FR 71815, Nov. 29, 2013]
(a) Each power car shall be equipped with at least two headlights. Each headlight shall produce no less than 200,000 candela. One headlight shall be arranged to illuminate a person standing between the rails 800 feet ahead of the power car under clear weather conditions. The other headlight shall be arranged to illuminate a person standing between the rails 1,500 feet ahead of the power car under clear weather conditions.
(b) A power car with a headlight not in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section shall be moved in accordance with the following:
(1) If one of the headlights is defective, the defect shall be considered a non-running gear defect subject to the provisions contained in §238.17 of this part.
(2) If both headlights are defective, the power car shall be inspected and tagged in accordance with the requirements contained in §238.17(c) relating to non-running gear defects. The power car may continue to be used in passenger service only to the nearest forward location where the repairs necessary to bring the power car into compliance can be made or to the power car's next calendar day mechanical inspection, whichever occurs first.
[67 FR 19993, Apr. 23, 2002]
(a) Each passenger train shall be equipped to monitor the performance of the following systems or components:
(1) Reception of cab signals and train control signals;
(2) Truck hunting;
(3) Dynamic brake status;
(4) Friction brake status;
(5) Fire detection systems;
(6) Head end power status;
(7) Alerter or deadman control;
(8) Horn and bell;
(9) Wheel slide;
(10) Tilt system, if so equipped; and
(11) On-board bearing-temperature sensors, if so equipped.
(b) When any such system or component is operating outside of its predetermined safety parameters:
(1) The train operator shall be alerted; and
(2) Immediate corrective action shall be taken, if the system or component defect impairs the train operator's ability to safely operate the train. Immediate corrective action includes limiting the speed of the train.
(c) The monitoring system shall be designed with an automatic self-test feature that notifies the train operator that the monitoring capability is functioning correctly and alerts the train operator when a system failure occurs.