TRACK FITTINGS AND

FASTENINGS

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FASTENING SYSTEM
 Rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to sleepers
 Used to keep rails in proper position
 Important fittings are:
 FISH PLATES
 SPIKES
 BOLTS
 CHAIRS
 BLOCKS
 KEYS
 PLATES

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FISH PLATES
 Fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal bar that is bolted
to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track
 Maintain the continuity of rails & to allow for expansion
and contraction of rail due to temperature difference.
 Maintain correct alignment of line both horizontally &
vertically.
 Fishplate is a small copper or nickel silver plate that slips
onto both rails

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 BONE SHAPED
FISH PLATE
FISH BOLTS

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REQUIREMENTS OF FISH PLATES
 They must support the underside of rail and top of the foot
 They should allow free movement of rails for expansion &
contraction. For this They should not touch the web of rail
 They should bear stresses due to lateral & vertical bending
moments
 They should hold ends of rail both laterally in line and vertically in
level
 They should not wear due to impact, expansion & contraction
 Length of fish plate should not exceed 457mm in India.

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FISH BOLTS
 Holes are drilled through plates and web of rails and then
fish bolts and nuts are provided in these holes.

 Alternate holes are made elongated and oval shaped so

that bolts in the rails will not be turned by vibrations.

 Holes are made of larger diameter generally 5mm- 6mm

to allow for expansion & contraction.

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 Bone shaped Fish
Rail plate

Hole for Fish bolt

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SPIKES
 To hold rails to wooden sleepers.
 A rail spike is a large nail with an offset head that is used
to secure rails and base plates to sleepers

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REQUIREMENTS
The spike should be

 Strong enough to hold rail in position & enough resistance

to motion to retain its position

 Cheap in cost

 Deep as possible for better holding power

 Easy in fixing and removal from sleepers

 Capable of maintaining the gauge

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DOG SPIKES
 Commonly used
 Hold rail flanges with timber sleepers
 Shape of head of spike resembles ear of dog ,hence called
dog Spike
 Section of spike is square – shape & bottom part is either
pointed or chisel shaped
 Cheapest, easy in fixing and removing from sleepers
 Maintain better gauges

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DOG SPIKES

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 DOG SPIKES
 Important points to be noted:

 1. Driving:

 Plays an important role in determining the holding power of spike.

 Driven in a staggering manner. If spikes are placed opposite to

each other they have a tendency to split sleeper and have less
holding power

 2. Blows:

 Blows to spike should be centric & regular. Otherwise result in

larger holes.
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DOG SPIKES
 3. Boreholes:
 Spikes driven into bored holes have slightly smaller section
than boreholes & have greater holding power than when
driven without boreholes and also crushing of sleepers can be
reduced.

 4. Number:
 No. of dog spikes is 2 per each rail.

 For heavy traffic ,upto 3-4.

 On bridge sleepers, no. is 4 per each rail joint.

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DOG SPIKES
 5. Auger
 Dog spikes are bored using 13mm auger.
 Holes are bored vertically through sleeper
 Verticality is essential otherwise connections will be loose
, gauge will be widened , hole become widened and
sleeper will decay.
 6. Plugging
 Due to heavy traffic, when dog spikes gets loose it is
driven out and hole is plugged with wooden plug.
 Another hole is bored and dog- spike is redriven there.
 Plugged holes are called spike killed holes.

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SCREW SPIKES
 Tapered screws with V- threads used to fasten rails with
timber sleepers.
 Head is circular with square projection

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SCREW SPIKES
 Holding power is double that of dog- spike
 Resist lateral thrust in better way
 More costly
 Gauge maintenance is more difficult
 Driving operations are similar to dog -spikes

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ROUND SPIKES
 Head either cylindrical or hemispherical

 Used for fixing chairs of bull headed rails to wooden

sleepers

 Limited use only

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ELASTIC SPIKES
 To overcome the problems of dog- spikes head absorbs the
wave motion of rail without getting it loose.
 Provide better grip and result in reduction of wear and tear
of rail
 Commonly used in British railways

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BOLTS
1. FANG-BOLT

 Alternative to round spikes

 Not in much use due to difficulty in fixing and removing bolt

 19mm in dia and of sufficient length to pass through sleeper

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BOLTS
2. FISH BOLT
 Made of medium carbon steel
 Length of bolt depends on type
of fish plate used
 Too much tightening is prohibited as it prevents free
expansion & contraction of rails
 Nuts are made of sufficient length to provide a good grip on
the bolt with square or hexagonal shape
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CHAIRS AND KEYS
 For double headed & bull headed rails chairs are used to support
them in position
 Made up of cast iron
 Distribute load from rails to sleepers
 Chairs have been fixed to the sleeper using wooden spikes screws,
fang-bolts or spikes
 Chair consist of 2 jaws & a rail seat
 Web of rail is held in inner jaw of chair and a key is driven
between rail and outer jaw of chair
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 RAIL

KEY

CHAIR

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 CHAIRS AND KEYS
 Chairs are fixed to sleepers using 3 spikes

 Keys may be of wood or metal and may be either straight or

tapered

 Wooden keys are cheap

 Initial cost of steel keys is high. But life is about ten times more
than wooden keys. So steel keys are preferred

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STEWART’S KEY
 Stewart’s key: steel plate bend in the form of letter E and a
steel wedge.

 Steel wedge to keep the key tight against rail web and outer
jaw of chair

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BEARING PLATES
 Rectangular plates of Mild steel or cast iron

 Used below flat footed rails to distribute the load on a

larger area of timber sleepers

 Placed below rails carrying heavy vehicles at high speed

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BEARING PLATES
Advantages:-

 Distribute load to sleepers over a large area and prevent

sinking of rail in soft wooden sleepers

 Prevent destruction of sleepers due to rubbing action of rail,

increase life of sleeper

 Help in firm and perfect holding of spikes to sleepers which

prevent shifting of rails

 Better maintenance of gauge

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BEARING PLATES
Disadvantages:-

 Plates rattle when loose

 When any hole for a spike is failed and a new hole is to be

made , all spikes in the bearing plate have to be pulled out
which affects good hold of spikes.

 When bearing plates are loose , they admit moisture and

result in mechanical wear of sleepers

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