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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / During apartheid, the infrastructure in South Africa was built by the government and was designed to keep Blacks away from White areas. This infrastructure comprised inter alia the public railway system which was intended to benefit mainly the White minority population, as it momentarily allowed Blacks to provide the cheap labour needed in White areas and businesses. While Whites predominantly resided within the suburbs adjacent to the railways, Blacks were relegated to the outskirts of the cities to areas which became known as townships and homelands. Racial segregation was rigorously enforced and consequently, the signs displayed in trains and on railway infrastructure primarily served to demarcate spaces and places that were designated for use by either Whites or Blacks, respectively. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this research was to present an ethnographic, multisemiotic study of the linguistic landscape (LL) of the public railways in post-apartheid South Africa across space and time. The study focussed on the languages used on signs displayed in the individual research sites. A mixed-methods research design was employed which entailed consideration of both quantitative and qualitative data. Thus, data was collected during ethnographic fieldwork over a six month period and was analysed using a multimodal/multisemiotic approach. The results reveal insights into the social structuring of languages and the mobility of linguistic and semiotic resources across regional and national boundaries in space and time since the end of apartheid.

My research will seek to affirm the factors that influenced the pattern and pace of populating a region between present day Prince Albert and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, during the period 1867 and 1931. A settlement boom had occurred in Western Canada during this era, and previous studies have sought to ascertain the factors that accounted for the boom and why the phenomenon had not occurred earlier. To date, studies addressing this issue have considered the Federal Policies for land, immigration and railways, several global push-pull factors, and the physical variables of land capability and climate as the primary factors affecting the settlement boom. </p><p>In examining the history of settlement of Western Canada, no study to date, however, has linked the inventory of land with the flow of immigrants into the region. It is exactly this gap that this study addresses. This study will utilize the inventory of the allocation of agricultural land to the population that first settled the region during this era, and will examine the timing and pace of homestead settlement in relation to the timing of all other forms of land alienation for the purposes of agriculture. These include the land sales of the purchased homesteads; pre-empted homesteads; school districts; the railway companies; land companies; and the Hudsons Bay Company. </p><p>This, furthermore, points to an important conjecture regarding government and railway policies that actually impeded settlement. Lewis (1981), Lewis and Robinson (1984) and Ward (1994) introduced the notion that the late railway branch-lines construction, and the late sale of pre-empted lands, may have acted as impediments to settlement. This suggestion has not been supported one way or another. In addition, the Railways late selection of lands they were entitled to from the railway land grant reserve, and the subsequent late availability of sale of these lands to agriculturists have not been addressed. My research is intends to affirm these premises. The linkages between the different forms of land alienation will be shown here as a factor that contributed to the order and pace of settlement.

My research will seek to affirm the factors that influenced the pattern and pace of populating a region between present day Prince Albert and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, during the period 1867 and 1931. A settlement boom had occurred in Western Canada during this era, and previous studies have sought to ascertain the factors that accounted for the boom and why the phenomenon had not occurred earlier. To date, studies addressing this issue have considered the Federal Policies for land, immigration and railways, several global push-pull factors, and the physical variables of land capability and climate as the primary factors affecting the settlement boom. </p><p>In examining the history of settlement of Western Canada, no study to date, however, has linked the inventory of land with the flow of immigrants into the region. It is exactly this gap that this study addresses. This study will utilize the inventory of the allocation of agricultural land to the population that first settled the region during this era, and will examine the timing and pace of homestead settlement in relation to the timing of all other forms of land alienation for the purposes of agriculture. These include the land sales of the purchased homesteads; pre-empted homesteads; school districts; the railway companies; land companies; and the Hudsons Bay Company. </p><p>This, furthermore, points to an important conjecture regarding government and railway policies that actually impeded settlement. Lewis (1981), Lewis and Robinson (1984) and Ward (1994) introduced the notion that the late railway branch-lines construction, and the late sale of pre-empted lands, may have acted as impediments to settlement. This suggestion has not been supported one way or another. In addition, the Railways late selection of lands they were entitled to from the railway land grant reserve, and the subsequent late availability of sale of these lands to agriculturists have not been addressed. My research is intends to affirm these premises. The linkages between the different forms of land alienation will be shown here as a factor that contributed to the order and pace of settlement.

The Hanshin (阪神) and Hankyu (阪急) Railway lines run parallel from Umeda, Osaka to Sannomiya, Kobe; Hankyu passing through the area closest to the mountains and Hanshin traversing the lowland closest to the coast. Frequent riding of their separate trains by the researcher yielded two very distinct travelling experiences. Upon enquiry, friends and colleagues readily acknowledged these characteristics- describing the Hankyu area as ??fashionable?? (おしゃれ) and ??wealthy?? (お金持ち); whereas the area surrounding the Hanshin line was portrayed as ??noisy?? (にぎやか) and of a place of ??commoners?? (庶民). Despite having these perceptions, however, they were uncertain as to their causes. The purpose of this thesis is to research the story behind distinctions in the urban space surrounding two railway lines. Further, it aims to investigate the extent to which two private railway groups have, through their diversified businesses, contributed in some way to these perceived distinctions. It is an examination that requires a study of place; particularly one that investigates the locational attributes of the region, like its physical geography, and processes exogenous and endogenous to the two corporations. The former processes are ones that originated outside the corporations, notably economic and industrial growth and social change. The latter are ones that originated within the corporations, particularly their management structures, oligopolistic competition, corporate brands, and consumption. The research draws on various facets of the geographical tradition: it stems from transport geography to pursue the geography of the city, themes of place-making, and consumption. Embodied in these are the important subjects of history, culture, corporate behaviour and the economy. In particular, this thesis considers the popular view which states that transport is a ??permissive factor rather than a direct stimulus?? (Hoyle and Knowles, 1998: 13). By bringing transport geography in touch with other sub-disciplines, to consider the historical and cultural significance of transport from a contemporary perspective, this thesis concludes that transport can, as in the case of Japanese private urban railways, have a direct influence on place.

Thesis (M.Eng.)(Mechanical)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1956. / Typescript. Abstracted in Dissertation abstracts, v. 16 (1956) no. 11, p. 2135-2136. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 404-412).

This is a PhD Thesis by portfolio and is the output of research, development and the practical application of processes for railway track asset management in the UK between 2004 and 2013 and the subsequent development of innovative solutions. There are two major sections to the portfolio; firstly the background, literature review and development phases; and secondly two specific projects. The projects consisted of major works on the UK West Coast Main Line and targeted schemes involving Eurostar and Humberside. The author is a chartered civil engineer and has spent the whole of his career (32 years) in railway civil engineering mainly in design, maintenance and management and culminating in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Railway Infrastructure Life Extension is a specialist area that has not been studied before in this depth and was initially related to specific problem solving. However, it is now clearly accepted that UK railway privatisation was a success and after passenger journeys increased by 80% in the period 1996 to 2012, there was substantial strain upon the infrastructure. This portfolio is informed by and considers the current and future challenges faced by railways from a safety, performance and efficiency angle. The study is supported as strategically important work being entirely appropriate and relevant to the industry by the two sponsors, Dr Ilias Oraifige, Senior Academic and Reader at the University of Derby and Ken Mee, Managing Director of Quality and Safety Services Ltd. The term “life extension” was uniquely created and applied to railway infrastructure by the author and his teams during the early phases of this project and became the industry standard phrase for the work involved. The historical background and literature review of the research is included to enable the reader to understand the context of the work undertaken previously where the author acted as the major driver behind the work under industrial conditions commencing in 1997. The author has had a direct involvement in the practical application of the techniques and processes through various senior positions in the UK Rail Industry. The work resulted in testing of equipment in live locations including quantifiable risk assessments and actual benefits to safety, economics and performance. The author held a number of key roles relevant to the study. From 1995 – 2000 he was Regional Director of Balfour Beatty Rail Maintenance and set up the Central Maintenance Group at Sandiacre, Nottinghamshire. This was a team of engineers, supervisors and staff employed to carry out heavy maintenance principally on the Erewash Valley line. From 2000 – 2003 he was Engineering Adviser to the Rail Regulator where he was appointed as the government representative on the Hatfield Recovery Board and sat on various working committees including the Wheel Rail Interface System Authority (WRISA). This was a significant contribution to the recovery of the UK rail system to normal working following the Hatfield Accident. A key contribution during this time was the understanding of the impact of track quality upon asset deterioration. From 2004 – 2007, the author, in his role as General Manager of Carillion Rail Ancillary Projects, was commissioned to set up an organisation to develop and provide innovative and original solutions for life extension and refurbishment of railway track systems in the UK. The principle objective was to build upon previous work done during the final years of the UK contracted-out railway infrastructure maintenance term contracts. The innovations chosen for development were related to delivering economic access to facilitate heavy maintenance and the development of new techniques to extend track life. A number of projects and case studies and their specific solutions are identified and reviewed. Of particular strategic importance is the use of the “Railvac” Swedish ballast removal machine developed in the UK between 2004 and 2012. The culmination of the work is the incorporation of the principles and ideas into the UK National Policy under the ongoing strategy approved by the Office of Rail Regulation for 2014-2019. The author has published a number of papers in support of the thesis which have been presented at conferences in London and Spain.

The aim of this paper is to present the development of administrative structures of the Czechoslovak State Railways (CSD) from 1918 to 1938. In the introduction I will give the history of railways in the period 1918 - 1938, including nazionalization largest private railway companies and the impact of these events on the administrative structure Following is a brief description of the management of Austrian and Hungarian State Railways on Czechoslovak territory, which came out of the structure of management for future CSD. I shall then consider the origins of the administrative structure of the independence of the CSD and its development throughout the period. This work is part of the particular division of the Ministry of Railways, each Directorate of State Railways, and other organizational units of the CSD. Added to all ministers of short vignettes railway tracks and broken down between individual Directorate of State Railways. All the work I wanted to finish the event in Munich due to the aforementioned structure, the development brief administration in subsequent periods and comparing the current situation.

Η συγκεκριμένη εργασία επικεντρώνεται στην εκτίμηση της καταλληλότητας κάποιων βασικών – υπερβασικών πετρωμάτων ως αδρανή υλικά για τις συγκεκριμένες χρήσεις και κυρίως για έρμα σιδηροδρομικών γραμμών υψηλών ταχυτήτων. Η έρευνα αφορούσε διαβασικά πετρώματα από υλικά λατομείου της περιοχής Πολύκαστρου του Νομού Κιλκίς καθώς και υλικά από επιλεγμένες θέσεις του Νομού Κορινθίας και συγκεκριμένα από την περιοχή Αγίων Θεοδώρων (δακιτικά πετρώματα) και την περιοχή Σχίνος (περιδοτίτες) . Στα δείγματα αυτά αξιολογήθηκε η καταλληλότητα τους με βάση τα αποτελέσματα ποιοτικού ελέγχου που περιλάμβανε όλες τις σχετικές διαδικασίες και απαιτήσεις που ορίζονται στα αντίστοιχα Ευρωπαϊκά Πρότυπα ΕΝ, συγκεκριμένα: • Γεωμετρικές ιδιότητες (δείκτες πλακοειδούς, επιμήκυνσης, μορφής και ισοδύναμο άμμου) • Φυσικές ιδιότητες (φαινόμενη πυκνότητα και υγρασία απορρόφησης) • Μηχανικές ιδιότητες (δείκτης Micro-Deval, δείκτης LAΑV, δείκτης AIV, δείκτης PSV) • Παράμετροι αντοχής βραχώδους υλικού (σκληρότητα SHV, σημειακή φόρτιση) Από τα αποτελέσματα της εργαστηριακής έρευνας διαπιστώνεται ότι η καταλληλότητα των διαβασικών πετρωμάτων από την περιοχή Πολύκαστρου του Νομού Κιλκίς είναι «οριακή» για έρμα Σιδηροδρομικών Γραμμών Υψηλών Ταχυτήτων (Σ.Γ.Υ.Τ.), σύμφωνα με τις Ελληνικές απαιτήσεις ποιότητας σιδηροδρομικών αδρανών για υψηλές ταχύτητες, λόγω κυρίως των αυξημένων τιμών του δείκτη LAAV, ενώ οι συγκεκριμένοι δακίτες και οι περιδοτίτες κρίνονται «ακατάλληλοι» για τη συγκεκριμένη χρήση. Επιπρόσθετα, από τις συσχετίσεις που δοκιμάστηκαν μεταξύ των επιμέρους ιδιοτήτων των γεωϋλικών διαφαίνονται γραμμικά αυξανόμενες σχέσεις μεταξύ των μηχανικών ιδιοτήτων (κυρίως AIV και LAΑV) με τις γεωμετρικές (κυρίως δείκτης πλακοειδούς) καθώς και με το δείκτη αντίστασης σε στίλβωση (PSV). / This paper focuses on assessing the suitability of some basic – ultrabasic rocks as aggregates for specific uses and especially for railway ballast high speed. The investigation concerned diabase rocks from quarry materials in the region of Kilkis and materials from selected parts of the county Corinth and specifically from the region St. Theodore (dacite rocks) and from the region Schinos (peridotites). In these samples evaluated their suitability based on quality control results that included all relative procedures and requirements set out in the relevant European Standards EN, specifically: • Geometrical properties ( flakiness index, elongation, shape and sand equivalent) • Physical properties ( apparent density and water absorption) • Mechanical properties ( Micro – Deval index, Los Angeles index, aggregate impact value AIV, polished stone value PSV) • Parameters strength rocky material ( Schmidt hammer value SHV, point load index) From the results of laboratory research found that the relevance of diabase rocks grom the region of Kilkis is << marginal>> for Railway Ballast High Speed ( R.B.H.S.), according to the Greek railway aggregate quality requirements for high speed, mainly due to increased results index LAAV, while the specific dacites and peridotites are conciderded << unsuitable>>for that use. In addition, from the correlations between the tested individual properties of geomaterials emerge linearly increasing relationship between the mechanical properties ( mainly LAAV and AIV) with geometrical (in particular flakiness index) and with polished stone value (PSV).