Chapter-12

Rail Fastenings
12.1 Lecture Outline
 Track Fittings
 Rail to Rail Fittings
 Rail to Sleeper Fittings

12.2 Fastening Types

 Rail to rail joining  Fish plates, bolts, nuts
 Rail to wooden sleeper  Dog spike, Fang bolts, screw spikes, bearing
fitting plates
 Rail to steel trough sleeper  Loose jaws, keys and liners
 Rail to CI sleeper  Tie bars, cotters
 Elastic fastenings  Elastic or Pandrol clip, IRN 202 clip, rubber
pads, HM fastening, MCI insert, nylon liners
12.3 Fastenings – Rail to Rail
 Fish Plates
 IRS T-1/57
 UTS Min 58 – 67 kg / mm2
 Min elongation 20%
 Sectional area = rail section
 Strength = 55% of rail section

 Combination Fish Plates
 Join two different rail
sections
 Additional thickening of joint
 Elimination of expansion gap
 Fish plates marked as right
in / out, left in / out
depending upon direction
from lighter rail to heavier
rail

12.4 Fastenings – Rail to Wooden Sleeper

 Spikes
 Dog spikes
 Round spikes (with anti-creep bearing plates; chairs of BH rails)
 Screw spikes (for high speed trunk routes, Plate screw, Rail screw)

1


 Bolts
 Fang bolts (for slide chairs / sleepers,
under switches)
 Bearing Plates
 MS canted BP (for joints and curves, 1 in 20)
 Flat MS BP (for points and crossings, with dog spike)
 CI anti-creep BP (ACB plate) (for creep affected locations, 1 in 20, round
spikes)
 Special CI BP for BH rail (with spring key)

2
12.5 Fastenings – Rail to Steel Sleeper
 Loose jaws
 Spring steel loose jaws with keys, No problem of
damaging, cracking or deforming, easily replaceable.
 Two way keys
 Taper 1 in 32, for trough sleepers, pot sleepers, CST-
9 sleeper.
 190mm long, 1 in 32 taper
 Rubber coated / Epoxy coated fish
plates
 Rubber coated used on insulated joint,
damages early.
 Now epoxy coated fish plates are used
 Mota Singh Liner
 For loose jaws to overcome the
problem of elongated holes

12.6 Fastenings – Rail to CI Sleeper

 Cotters
 Fixing tie bars with CI sleepers
 Central split cotter
 Side split cotter
 Solid end split cotter
 Bent plate cotter
 MS Tie Bars
 Hold two plates of CST-9 sleeper together
 Length 2720 mm, section 50 mm x 13 mm for BG

12.7 Fastenings – Elastic Requirements

 Adequate to load
 Sufficient elasticity to absorb shocks and vibrations
 Should hold gauge and maintain track
 Resist lateral forces
 ‘Fit and Forget’ type, least maintenance
 Reusable, cheap and long life
 Universal type, sabotage free

12.8 Fastenings – Elastic Types

 Pandrol / Elastic clip (PR 401 clip)
 Fit and forget type
 Toe load 710 kg for nominal deflection of 11.4
mm
 Universal
 Use base plate and CI inserts
 Gauge adjustment difficult
 Point contact causes indentation on rail foot
 Theft prone

3
 IRN 202 clip
 For two block RCC sleeper
 Toe load 1000 kg for deflection of 18.5 mm,
 Creep resistance ~ 50% of toe load
 Bolts and clamps required
 Removal of rail easy
 But not ‘fit and forget’ type
 Costlier
 Heavier and problem of corrosion

 Elastic Rail clip (MK III)

 Used with rubber pads, 2 liners of 6mm
with 60 kg rail and 1 liner each of 16 mm
on non-gauge side and 10 mm on gauge
side with 52 kg rail.
 Toe load 900 – 1100 kg with deflection
15.5 mm.
 But not interchangeable
 Theft prone
 Loosening of toe load, jamming / rusting.

 Interchangeable Fastening – H.M. Fastening

 Clip wt. 510 gm
 Toe load 1t
 Provide dampening effect and resistance to
lateral movement
 Used with grooved rubber pads, insulator,
plastic dowel and angled guide plate.
 Maintains gauge.

 FASTCLIP FD
 This is a simplified system for railways operating
low or medium density operations, on rail
sections of 50kg or below and at speeds
generally less than 120km/hr.

 Malleable CI Inserts
 Fixed directly into the concrete sleeper during manufacturing.
 Stem type – for normal pre-tension concrete sleepers, wt. 1.6 kg
per piece.
 Gate type – for post-tension concrete sleepers, wt 1.7 kg per
piece.

 Rubber Pads
 Absorb shocks
 Damp and absorb vibrations
 Resist lateral movement of rails
 Prevent abrasion of bottom surface of rail
 Provide electrical insulation.

4
  Composite Liners
 With malleable CI and nylon components or with MS and nylon components.

 Glass Filled Nylon Liners

 Used for track circuiting areas, sections subjected to severe corrosion,
superior, single piece, long life, corrosion free.

 GFC – 66 Liner
 Rust free surface of rail with 1 in 6 slope of rail flange, 6mm thick, used with
ERC clip, may damage due to rusting, uneven seating or in yards

12.9 Material Requirement On Track

 Computed as per km
 Rails (in Nos. and weight)
 Sleepers (Nos., based on sleeper density)
 Fish Plates (@ 2 per rail)
 Fish Bolts / Holes (@ 4 per rail)
 Bearing Plates (@ 2 per sleepers)
 Spikes – Dog spike (@ 4-6 per sleeper on straight track; 6-8 per sleeper
on curved track)