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Trackwork

One of the very necessary but frequently not seen events on the railway is track maintenance and repair. Often done during the night to avoid disruption to timetables, most of us are probably only aware of them when the announcement is made "We apologise for the late running/cancellation of your train this morning due to over-running engineering works"! The following photographs were taken whilst trackwork was being replaced at Riddlesdown, on the Oxted line, during daylight hours.

Cutting

In this photograph the rail is being cut to the required length.

photograph by John Lewis

Panels

Ihere the track panels are being placed in position on the new ballast.

photograph by John Lewis

Panels

The new track is now in position and the Engineer's train is ready to leave.

photograph by John Lewis


Turnouts

The general traveller simply takes the railway line for granted, indeed hardly ever gives it a moment's thought when everything is running smoothly. However, there is much more to the safe operation of a railway than simply laying a couple of rails on sleepers! Here are a few examples of things the travelling public rarely notices.

Panels

The point frog, or 'crossing' to give it its proper name. These are precisely machined to the exact configuration required by each individual installation. When delivered to the site the rails are normally covered with painted numbers and/or codes to assist in the correct alignment. To ensure the safe passage of the wheels the gap is kept to the absolute minimum and check rails are used on the opposite side to prevent the wheels wandering to the wrong side of the crossing!.

Note that beyond the end of the rail there is a wire connecting to the next rail. This is to ensure continuity of the track circuit beyond the gap in the rails.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Panels

A photograph of another crossing in which it can be clearly seen how all the various components are kept in their precise positions relative to each other.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Turnout

The checkrail on the opposite side of the line from the crossing. If the crossing is installed correctly, and the wheels have perfect alignment, there is no reason why the wheels and checkrail should come into contact.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Turnout

A point rodding crank that transmits the throw of the point lever through 90°. This is fixed to an extended sleeper installed purely for that purpose.

photograph by Ian Morgan

As can probably be imagined, a lot of individual components go into the assembly of a turnout with special chairs cast to hold the rails the correct distance apart, and to let the blades move.

Turnout

These chairs are specially shaped so that the blades can slide across whilst the weight of the train must not be allowed to depress the level of the blade in relation to the stock rail. These chairs have to be kept well greased as otherwise the friction that could be caused might make it almost impossible to move the blades across if the turnout is some distance from the Signalbox.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Turnout

Special twin chairs with diagonal bracing are used where the fixed part of the turnout's blades are close to the stock rails.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Turnout

Here the blade and stock rail are further apart so the stock rail is mounted on standard chairs, but the blade rail is on small 'bridge' chairs, with a bridge chair also used for the stock rail beside the fishplate.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Turnout

Specially shaped (and handed) twin chairs are used at the ends of the check rails where they angle away from the running rail.

photograph by Ian Morgan


Facing Point Lock

Have you ever stopped to wonder what prevents the blades of points (correct term is 'turnout') from moving whilst a train is passing over them? It is the Facing Point Lock, or FPL as it is commonly known.

FPL

These FPLs normally take one of two forms, either a lock on the blades themselves or on the bar that operates the blades. This is an example of the former and is really very simple in its implementation. After the Signalman has placed the blades where they are required he then uses another lever to move a solid steel bar into a slot on a stretcher between the blades, thus ensuring that under normal forces the blades will not move whilst a train is passing over them. Move your mouse pointer over the numbers to see the relevant functions.

photograph by Ian Morgan

FPL

The same FPL, viewed from a different angle. As will be appreciated, the FPL must be unlocked before the blades can be moved, and locked again before a facing movement may be allowed. Depending on how the Signalbox locking is set up, some FPLs are unlocked when the Signalbox lever is'normal', and some when it is 'reversed'.

photograph by Ian Morgan

FPL

The crank that operates the FPL bar. This transfers the movement through an angle of 90°.

photograph by Ian Morgan

FPL

The whole FPL installation, seen on a different turnout.

photograph by Ian Morgan


Track

The railway lines that our trains run on are usually just taken for granted, but they are as important as any other infrastructure when it comes to the safe conduct of trains. Track has, as with nearly everything, developed and improved over the years.

Track

For a long, long time the track in Britain was made from bullhead section rail that sat in cast chairs fixed to wooden sleepers. The rail was of varying lengths and weight per lb according to the required use, and the ever-increasing weight of the trains, and was held securely in the chairs by wooden or metal keys. There is still quite a large mileage of bullhead track in use, though it is mainly to be found on secandary routes and in sidings. This picture shows one of the very early uses of concrete for sleepers, a field where the Southern Railway was to the fore. The big advantage of concrete, of course, is that it doesn't rot in the way that wood does, so doesn't need to be saturated in preservative. However, concrete has it's own problems and it was a number of years before a reliable, long-lasting concrete sleeper was introduced.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Track

Bullhead rail was replaced by flat-bottom rail which can be fixed in several ways. Here the fixing is the Pandrol clip, to be found all over the railway network. Note that flatbottom rail is of a taller section than bullhead. A further development was the introduction of continuously welded rail, something that makes journeys far smoother and, because it is laid at a high temperature, is supposed to prevent the rail from buckling in all but the hottest weather. The rail is manufactured in normal lengths for ease of movement and is then welded into long lengths that are carried on special trucks, often made from rebuilt coaching stock. The welds between the sections of rail can be clearly seen in this photograph.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Track

In this photograph the rails are sitting on modern Dow-Mac concrete sleepers and are held in place by continental-style clips and bolts. A characteristic of these sleepers is the recessed central section and the sloping ends which, no doubt, results in a saving in the amount of concrete required.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Track

Finally, for the doyen of the Southern Electrics (and third rail systems in other parts of the country) there is the conductor rail chair. These are made from insulated material and sit on the end of either wooden or concrete sleepers. The conductor rail is of a smaller section than the running rail so these are built up to maintain the correct height. Lower ones are sometimes to be found at the end of a section of conductor rail where it slopes so as not to damage a pick-up shoe that is coming into contact with the rail.

photograph by Ian Morgan


Fouling Bars, Greasers and Buffer Stops

As well as the running rails, there can be several other appendages to the track that are all designed to assist with the safe running of the railway. Some are part of a larger safety scheme and some are there just in their own right.

Fouling bar

The fouling bar (also called a locking bar) is a good example of some track infrastructure that is all part of a greater scheme. They are positioned just before a turnout and their function is to prevent the FPL being moved when an engine or some rolling stock is standing on, or moving over, the line. The operation is simple, when the lever is pulled to move the FPL, it also raises and lowers the fouling bar. If a vehicle is on the section of line then the flanges of its wheels will prevent the fouling bar from rising which means the lever cannot be fully moved so the FPL cannot be moved.

photograph by Ian Morgan

Greaser

A good example of a stand-alone piece of equipment is the automatic flange greaser. They are to be found on tight radii curves and their function is to apply a little grease to the flanges of the wheels as they pass. This is done by means of a small treadle on the inside of the rail that, when depressed by a passing wheel, pumps out a small amount of grease. They might not reduce all the squealing that is sometimes to be heard, but they do reduce considerably the wear on the wheels!

photograph by Ian Morgan

Buffer Stop

Our old friend the buffer stop. They are to be found in many shapes and patterns, but all with the one aim. This example is made entirely from old bullhead rail and was once very common indeed. A variation on this theme was a buffer stop of very similar construction but with a wooden beam in the place of the two crosswise rails. Looking at the end of these two rails gives a good picture of bullhead rail's cross section. In both cases the running surface is uppermost.

See also the unusual buffer stop that was at Watergate Siding.

photograph by Ian Morgan

This page was created 6 April 2004

The locking bar. In this installation this moves backwards and forwards parallel with the running rails. Two slots are cut in this bar. One for locking the blades when the turnout is 'normal' and one for when it is 'reversed'. The end of the locking bar can be seen to protrude some way beyond the slot where it locates to give a good firm locking action. These are adjusted to have a very small tolerance.

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