Component of rail track

Steel Rail

Steel track made of steel rods or steel high pressure, and also contains carbon, manganese, and silicon. Steel rail specially made to withstand heavy load of the railway network that runs on it. In other words, the transfer of weight of a passing train network.

Steel rail track consists of flat-bottom steel rails supported on timber or pre-stressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties), which are themselves laid on crushed stone ballast.

It can carry heavier loads by spread the load from the rails over the ground and also serve to hold the rails a fixed distance apart (called the gauge).

The different types of steel rails affect things, such as of the maximum pressure axle load is willing to accept from train while crossing the tracks, and the allowable speed of the train as it passes through the rails. The greater the axle load that could be accepted by the rail, and trains that passed over it can run at high speed with its stable and secure its because we are choose steel rail track.

Steel rail can also laid onto concrete slab (i.e., aslab track). If the track is developed across bridge, the track is laid on ties across longitudinal timbers or longitudinal steel girders.

Fasterner

Rail fastening system ensure the safety of railway operation, their quality directly affects the safety performance of train. The function of rail fastening system is to fix rails to railway sleeper or railroad ties. Generally, a rail fastening system is consisted of rail anchors, rail tie plates, chairs, fasteners, spikes, screws, bolts, etc.

There are a wide range of fasteners and their application relies on upon the qualities of rail and structure of the sleepers to be utilized. The fasteners withstand the vertical, parallel, and longitudinal strengths, and toppling snippets of the track, and in addition keeping the rails set up. They likewise exchange every one of the strengths brought on by the wheels, warm change, and regular risks, from the rails to the nearby sleepers.

Type of fastener depends on the type of sleeper being used. Spikes usually used for wooden sleepers while rail clips been used for concrete or cement sleepers. A baseplate or fishplate is used the between rail & wooden sleepers to spread the load of the rail over a large area of the sleeper.

Track Ballast

Ballast is a layer of free draining coarse aggregate used as a tensionless elastic support for resting sleepers. This layer comprises graded crushed stone, gravel, and crushed gravel such as granite and basalt which depends on local availability. It not only provides support, it also transfers the load from the track to the sub-ballast and drains water away from the rails and sleepers.

For a heavy haul freight line, individual axle loads on rails can be up to 50 tons or around 80 tons. Thus, in addition to the weight of the track, heavy cyclic loading, tamping and impact from rolling stock, ballast provides a static and dynamic stability to the sleepers by distributing a uniform load and reduction over the sub-ballast and subgrade.

Ballast also guard rail tracks to remain in place, as a layer that is easy to customize and leveling height of rail tracks, expedite the process of rainwater drainage, prevent the growth of grasses that can interfere with the disposal of rainwater.

Ballasts that are usually sown stones rocks crushed into small size with a diameter of 28-50 mm with sharp corners also know round shape. Its function is to strengthen the ballast layer, dampen vibration while series of trains passing by, and at the same time hold the water absorption of the coating blanket and subgrade underneath so as not seeped into the ballast layer.

Ballast particle size that is too small will reduce the ability of drainage, and sizes that are too large will reduce its ability to transfer axle load current series of trains pass. Selected that sharp corners to prevent cavities in the sprinkling of ballast, so that the ballast layer structure becomes denser.

Sleeper

A sleeper, railroad tie, or also known as cross tie is a rectangular object used as a base and support for railroad tracks. It is commonly perpendicularly arranged to the rails. It is functioned to move loads of the train to the ballast and subgrade of the track. It is also used to hold the rails in the right place and keep the space between the rails to the correct gauge.

Traditionally, sleepers have been made of wood, but concrete is now widely used, steel has been used, and plastic has been tried.

Nowadays, concrete sleeper has been choosen widely in the build of railway tracks because is strong enough to bear the higher speed. Even concrete sleeper is expensive and hard to handle during installation and maintenance, but it will benefit the company in the long run. Concrete sleeper has a longer service life, reduce the company maintenance cost, and non-combustible reduce the possibility of track fires.

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