FOREWORD - AREMA

FOREWORD

This manual is current for the dates indicated on the title page of Volume I and is kept current by the issuance

of annual updates.

The first two editions of the Manual were issued in 1905 and 1907 as the “Manual of Recommended Practice

for Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way.” Both were bound volumes and published by the Association

under its original name – American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.

In 1911, the Association changed its name to the American Railway Engineering Association and issued the

third edition of its Manual. This edition, and the next one in 1915, was called the “Manual of the American

Railway Engineering Association,” and was also a bound volume. The final bound volumes were published in

1921 and 1929 under the name “Manual of the American Railway Engineering Association for Railway

Engineering.” A number of Manual updates were issued between some of the bound volumes.

The first looseleaf edition of the AREMA Manual was issued in 1936 under the name “Manual for Railway

Engineering,” the next in 1953. In 1961, the publication was reissued and called the “Manual of Recommended

Practice for Railway Engineering.” The current title, “Manual for Railway Engineering,” was approved by the

Board of Directors in 1970 and reverts to the former, simpler, more functional name although the contents are

still recommended practice, as indicated in the preceding Introduction.

In 1996 the Manual was given a complete facelift. Not only is the manual available in paper form, it is also

available in an electronic version stored on a CD-ROM. The Manual has been enlarged to an 8Z\x × 11 inch

format, perfect bound and divided into four volumes. Each volume covers one of four general areas, Track,

Structures, Infrastructure and Passenger, and Systems Management. The CD-ROM contains a complete

version of the manual, which can be run on several platforms (DOS, Macintosh, and Unix).

The Association also publishes the Portfolio of Trackwork Plans, which is a companion volume to the Manual

for Railway Engineering. The Portfolio contains specifications and plans relating to the design of frogs,

switches, crossings and other special trackwork. It was first issued about 1926 in cooperation with the

Manganese Track Society.

As shown on the following Contents page, the AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering is issued in four

volumes, each volume divided into chapters with numbers corresponding to the numbers of the standing

technical committees charged with the primary responsibility for developing and maintaining the chapters. In

addition, Volume 4 contains a General Subject Index which augments the separate Table of Contents

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