Rail Fastening

A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties (North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The
terms rail anchors, tie plates, chairs and track fasteners are used to refer to parts or all of a rail fastening system. The components of a rail
fastening system may also be known collectively as other track material, or OTM for short. Various types of fastening have been used over
the years.
Rail spikes
Railroad spike plays an important role in ensuring the stability of railroad. It is a large rail nail used for fastening railway sleepers or rail
ties in the rail track. The obvious features of track spike are the offset head, flat edge point and chisel, which makes the spike resist to
loosening. Rail spike is the main component in rail fasteners and it can also be made into railroad spike knife.
According to its features, we can classify it into two types, screw spike and dog spike. It has many different functions and can strength
types of products. In order to satisfy requirements of environment, technology and freezing, there are still various special spikes like square
head spike, hexagon head spike, dog spike with traditional or special designs.

Square head spike Hexagon spikes

Dog spike
Use of railroad spike
In the use of railroad spike, people also need to consider the railway track. For example, spike
is generally different from ballasted turnout. But with the continuous upgrading of railroad
equipment’s, installation of railroad spike in the turnout become fewer and fewer.
The use of railroad spike is the auxiliary function for elastic rail system and keeps the rail with
no moving laterally or horizontally. It can be used to better conform to technology requirements
and installation of the elastic rail fastening system and help to exert the maximum capacity of
railroad spike in railway locomotive running process. The most important meaning of railway
machinery spike is that it increases the safety factor, guarantees convenience and smooth
railway transportation.

Rail Supports
Chairs
The earliest rail chairs, made of cast iron and introduced around 1800, were used to fix and
support cast-iron rails at their ends they were also used to join adjacent rails.
In the 1830s rolled T-shaped (or single-flanged T parallel rail) and I-shaped (or double-
flanged T parallel or bullhead) rails were introduced; both required cast-iron chairs to support
them. Originally, iron keys were used to wedge the rail into the vertical parallel jaws of the
chair; these were superseded by entirely wooden keys. The wooden keys were formed
from oak, steam softened and then compressed with hydraulic presses and stored in a drying
house. When inserted into the chair, exposure to the wet atmosphere caused the key to
expand, firmly holding the rail. The wedge may be on the inside or outside of the rail. In
Britain they were usually on the outside.
Chairs have been fixed to the sleeper using wooden spikes (trenails), screws, fang-bolts or
spikes.
In most of the world, flat-bottomed rail and baseplates became the standard. However, in Britain, bullhead rail-and-chairs remained in use
until the middle of the twentieth century. They are now largely obsolete but can still be found on the London Underground and some sidings.
Tie Plates
A tie plate, baseplate or sole plate is a steel plate used on rail tracks between flanged T
rail and the crossties. The tie plate increases bearing area and holds the rail to
correct gauge. They are fastened to wooden ties by means of spikes or bolts through
holes in the plate.
The part of the plate under the rail base is tapered, setting the cant of the rail, an inward
rotation from the vertical. The usual slope is one in forty (1.4 degrees). The top surface
of the plate has one or two shoulders that fit against the edges of the base of the rail. The
double-shoulder type is currently used. Older single-shoulder types were adaptable for
various rail widths, with the single shoulder positioned on the outside (field side) of the
rails. Most plates are slightly wider on the field side, without which the plates tend to
cut more into the outsides of the tie, reducing cant angle.
Many railways use large wood screws, also called lag screws, to fasten the tie plates (or
baseplates) to the railroad ties.
Tie plates came into use around the year 1900, before which time flanged T rail was spiked directly to the ties.
Clips
A variety of different types of heavy-duty clips are used to fasten the rails to the
underlying baseplate, one common one being the Pandrol fastener (Pandrol clip),
named after its maker, which is shaped like a stubby paperclip. Another one is the
Vossloh Tension Clamp. Clips are an alternative to spikes.
The newer Pandrol fastclip is applied at right angles to the rail. Because the clip is
captive, it has to be installed at the time of manufacture of the concrete sleeper.
Rail Anchor
Rail anchors, also called anticreepers, are spring steel clips that attach to the underside of the rail baseplate and bear against the sides of
the sleepers to prevent longitudinal movement of the rail, either from changes in temperature or through vibration. Anchors may be attached
and removed either by hand with hammers, or by an anchor machine.
 Rail fastening types

Rail spike with baseplate above Track joint and chairs Pandrol 'e-Clip' fastening
the tie

Bolt clamped fastening

Tension clamp fastening
Pandrol 'fastclip' fastening