Rails

It is an iron beam. Its main function is to

provide a most economical ,smooth and
level surface for the smooth passage of
heavily loaded vehicles at great speed.
Types of Rails
Double Headed Rail
Bull Headed Rail
Flat Footed Rail

Double Headed Rail

It is of I Section.
The idea was that when the head of the
rail was worn out during the period of
service, the rail could be inverted and
reversed without causing any extra
expenditure
Such rails have to be supported in chairs
which rest on sleepers
But the bottom table of the rail was dented
by the long and continuous contact with
the chair to such an extent that it was
impossible to reuse it. Hence it was
rejected.

Bull Headed Rail

It is similar in shape to double headed
rail with only difference that in bull
headed rail more metal is added to the
head to minimize the greater wear and
tear.
The lower head or table was kept of just
sufficient size to be able to withstand the
stresses to be induced by moving loads
This rail also required chairs for fixing it
to the sleepers .This proved the greatest
draw back of this rail

Flat Footed Rail

It is an inverted T shaped rail
No chair is required
Due to flat bottom it have greater
stability
It was developed by Charles Vignoles
as early as 1836
Almost 90 percent of the worlds track
are made of flat footed rails

Flat footed rails has the

following advantages
They do not need any chair and can be directly spiked
or keyed to the sleepers. Thus they are economical.
They are much stiffer both vertically and laterally. The
lateral stiffness is important for curves.
They are less liable to develop kinks and maintain a
more regular top surface than bull headedrails.
They are cheaper than bull headedrails.
The loads from wheels of trains are distributed over
large number of sleepers and hence larger area which
results in greater track stability, longer life ofrailsand
sleepers, reduced maintenance, costs, less rail failure
and few interruptions to traffic.

Rail Length
Name of Country
Germany
France
U.S.A
U.K
India/Pak
13m(42ft)

Rail Length
30m (99ft)
23m (79ft)
12m( 39ft)
18 m(60ft)
M.G 12m(39ft)
B.G

Gauge
of
a
Track
The clear perpendicular distance

between
the inner faces of two rails is called gauge
of a track
Types of Gauges
(i).Broad Gauge(B.G)
5-6 to 5
5 -6 in Pakistan, India ,Argentina,Brazil etc
5 -5 3/4 in Spain and Purtugal
5-3 in Austrailia
5 in Russia and previous occupied states
(ii).Standard Gauge 4-9 to 4-8

4-8 in
Britain,USA,Canada,Austrailia,china,Egypt
(iii) 1/8
Meter
3-3 3/8)
4-9
in Gauge
Europe(3-6
excepttoBritain,Russia,Spain
3-6 South Africa,Japan,NewZealand and
etc
Australia
3-3 3/8 (one Meter) In Pakistan, India,Murma,
France et
(iv) Narrow Gauge (2-6 to 2-0)
2-6 Pakistan, India, Chile
2-0 India,South Africa,Britain
In Pakistan
B.G=7718 Km
M.G=446 Km
N.G=611 Km

Fastenings of Rails
The devices used to connect rails and
Sleepers together to form the track is
called fastenings.
Following fastenings are used to keep
the rails in their correct position
1.Fish Plates
2.Bolts
3.Chairs
4.Keys
5.Bearing Plates

1.Fish Plate
The function of Fish Plate is to hold two
rails together both in horizontal and in
vertical direction
At each joint a pair of fish plate is used
Holes are drilled through the plates and
web of the rails
The rails are jointed together by
tightening fish bolts with the help of nuts

..

Fittings for Wooden Sleepers

Spikes
The device used to hold the rails to the
wooden sleepers are known as
spikes.They can be used with or without
bearing plates below rails
Types of Spikes
a)Dog Spikes
b)Round Spikes
c)Screw Spikes
d)Elastic Spikes

a. Dog Spike
They are used for fixing rails with
wooden sleepers
The lower end of the dog spike may be
either pointed ,blunt or chisel
shaped.Experiments have shown that
pointed dog spike has the best holding
power and blunt end dog spike comes
second and chisel shaped spike has the
least holding power

b.Round Spikes
Used for fixing rails with wooden sleepers
using anti creep bearing plates
c.Screw Spikes
They have holding power twice that of dog
Spikes. This can be used on high speed trunk
routes to obtain better life of sleepers
d.Standard Spikes
Used for cast iron chairs only to fix them
with the timber
e.Elastic Spikes
Provide better grip. Reducing wear and
tear.Create less noise and less creep.

2.Bolts
(a).Fang Bolt
This is an alternative to round
spike.Fang bolts have proved more
effective but their fixing and removal
is difficult
(b).Hook Bolts
Hook bolts are used to fix sleepers to
girders of the bridges

3.Chairs
Chairs are used to hold the double headed and bull
headed rails in position. They are made of cast iron
and they help in distributing the load from rails to
sleepers
A chair is consist of two jaws and a rail seat .The web
of the rail is held tightly against the inner jaw of the
chair and a key is driven between the rail and the outer
jaw of the chair
The chairs are fixed with the sleepers by means of
spikes
The shape of chairs depends upon the type of rails
used.BH rails are supported on cast iron chairs fixed to
the sleepers by round spikes.
In case of cast iron sleepers, the chairs are also casted
with sleepers while in case of steel sleepers, they are
welded to steel sleepers

Slide Chairs
They are plates of special shape in
which the tongue and stock rails rest

4.Keys
They are wedge shaped wooden and
metal pieces
They keep the rail in proper position
Wooden keys are cheaper but liable to
be attacked by vermins
The initial cost of metal keys is more
than wooden keys , but their life is ten
to fifteen times more than wooden keys

5.Bearing Plates
Chairs used for Flat footed rails are
known as bearing plates. Bearing
plates are used for fixing wooden
sleepers to rails
Bearing plates may be flat or canted.
Flat bearing plates are used in place
where rails are to be laid flat. In all
other places canted plates are used