Patent ID: 8305567

Claim:
A system for producing a signal stream indicative of at least one characteristic relating to a railway, the system comprising: a first array of a plurality of sensors mounted to a rail at consecutive rail sections spanning a plurality of consecutive cribs; a power source for said first array of sensors; at least one wheel sensor mounted to said rail upstream from said first array and configured to actuate said power source upon passing of a rail vehicle over said at least one wheel sensor; and a computer communicatingly connected to said first array and configured to: process signals generated by said first array of sensors, the signals comprising a waveform indicative of forces applied to the rail due to the passing of the rail vehicle, compare the waveform to a plurality of stored waveforms to determine whether the waveform is indicative of forces applied to the rail that deviate from predetermined forces, the stored waveforms corresponding to different types of defects, the different types of defects including at least two of a wheel flat spot, an eccentricity, wheel shelling, tread build-up, or a defective bearing, predict a probable type of defect based on the comparison, and determine a severity of the probable type of defect.