Fittings for Wooden Sleepers

Fittings for Wooden Sleepers

Rails are fixed to wooden sleepers with the help of simple types of fastenings such as spikes, screws, and bearing plates.

1 Dog Spikes

This fastening is named dog spike (Fig. 10.5) because the head of this spike looks like the ear of a dog. Dog spikes are used for fixing rails to wooden sleepers. The number of dog spikes normally used is as follows:

          Location               Number of dog spikes

l On straight track          2        (1 on either side and duly staggered)

l         On curved track   3 (2 outside and 1 inside)

l         Joint sleepers, bridges    4        (2 outside and 2 inside)

The dog spike has a 16-mm square section and its length varies depending upon the location at which it is placed, as given in Table 10.4.

Table 10.4   Details of dog spikes

2 Round Spikes

Round spikes (Fig. 10.5) are used along with anticreep bearing plates for fixing rails to sleepers. These are also used for fixing assemblies of switches onto wooden sleepers. The round spike has a round section of a diameter of 18 mm, and its length depends upon the purpose it serves. Round spikes have become obsolete now.

3 Fang Bolts

Fang bolts (Fig. 10.5) are employed under the switches for fastening slide chairs to the sleepers. These are used in locations where the gauge is to be preserved.

4 Screw Spikes

Indian Railways has developed screw spikes with diameters of 20 mm and 22 mm (Fig. 10.6) to be used on high-speed, main, and trunk routes in order to increase the lifespan of wooden sleepers. Screw spikes with a diameter of 20 mm are called 'plate screws' and are used in place of round spikes for fixing rails to sleepers with the help of anticreep bearing plates while screw spikes with a diameter of 22 mm are called 'rail screws' and are used to directly fasten the rails to the sleepers with or without the use of bearing plates. They are also used on bridges and platform lines. Plate and rail screws should be preferred to round and dog spikes in order to conserve the life of wooden sleepers.

5 Bearing Plates

Bearing plates are used for fixing wooden sleepers to rails. The different types of bearing plates in use on Indian Railways are described below.

Mild steel canted bearing plates Mild steel canted bearing plates are used on all joints and curves to provide a better bearing area to the rails. They have a cant of 1 in 20 and a groove in the centre to prevent rocking. Mild steel (MS) canted bearing plates with only round holes are sanctioned for use on the Railways. The normal size of this kind of bearing plate is 260 mm × 220 mm × 18 mm for 52 kg and 90 R rails (Fig. 10.7).

Flat MS bearing plates Flat MS bearing plates are used at points and crossings in the lead portion of a turnout. No cant is provided in these bearing plates. The size of this bearing plate is 260 mm × 220 mm × 19 mm for 52 kg and 90 R rails (Fig. 10.8).

Cast iron anticreep bearing plates Cast iron (CI) anticreep bearing plates are provided with wooden sleepers at locations where the rails are likely to develop creep. These bearing plates have a cant of 1 in 20 and can be fixed using normal round spikes. The size of this bearing plate is 285 mm × 205 mm for BG tracks (Fig. 10.9).

Special CI bearing plates for BH rails Special cast iron bearing plates are used for fixing bull headed (BH) rails. The rail is held in position with the help of a spring key (Fig. 10.10).