Technology Digests / Revenue Service Switch Grinding Trial

TD25-023

February 9, 2026
Authors
  • Ulrich Spangenberg
  • Andrew DeKruif
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Key Findings

  • Grinding performed during the trial resulted in 1.5 to 2.0 times more crown wear on average.
  • Gage face wear and wear at 60 degrees on the gage corner was found to be benign.
  • Based on gage face wear alone, ignoring RCF, the minimum switch rail life was projected to be 27 years or 620 MGT.
  • Lubrication near the switch point was beneficial in reducing the gage face wear in this region.
  • The RCF deterioration worsened on the unground turnout.
  • Compared to gage face wear, a poor RCF condition was found to be a more likely cause of rail replacement, therefore, managing the RCF condition would prolong the service life of switch and stock rails.
  • The benefits of grinding in controlling RCF and rail profiles outweigh the small increase in crown wear rate.

Revenue Service Switch Grinding Trial

Similar to open track production grinding equipment, specialty production grinding equipment can install and maintain the desired transverse rail profile shape found in special trackwork. Previously, MxV Rail investigated the performance of different rail profile templates related to gage face wear in turnouts.1 As part of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) Program, MxV Rail began validating the findings from the initial investigation by studying the performance of a tangent rail profile template applied via grinding to the diverging route of revenue service turnouts. Located on a Class 1 railroad, the turnouts were monitored over a three-year period. Future tests will assess the performance of a curve template applied to the diverging route, facilitating the comparison of the performance of the two grinding templates. Introduction And Background Early applications of production grinding focused mainly on correcting corrugations, engine burns, and batter on jointed track. In the…