Railway fishplate, also called rail joint or joint bar, it is a typical type of rail components in the railway track system. Rail bolt is a railway fastener that works with railway fishplate together.
Rail fishplate
Rail fishplate, which is bolted to the ends of two railroad tracks to join them together, is widely used in light rail, heavy rail and crane rail. So if the quality of the railway fish plate is poor, the caused consequence would be unimaginable. As to the fastening system, fish bolt is the other important part and always firstly chosen in the part of fastening. In general, the rail fastening system is consisting of fish bolt, flat washer and spring washer. Every two fishplates mostly need four or six suits of fish bolt.
Types of rail fishplate
Rail fishplate is widely use in the transportation of light rail, heavy rail and crane rail.
- Light rail: 8kg, 9kg, 12kg, 15kg, 18kg, 22kg, 24kg and 30kg
- Heavy rail: 38kg, 43kg, 50kg and 60kg
- Crane rail: QU70, QU80, QU100 and QU120
Besides, there are so many various oversea railway fishplates: BS80A, BS80A, BS75R, UIC60 and UIC54 and UIC series, e.g.
Features of fishplate include:
- Convenient to install and handle
- Rust-resistant
To meet the different requirements, the joggled fish plate is usually used in recent days. It has a simple structure and can largely reduce the impact of wheels to the connecting sections of the rail tracks and increase the continuity and steadiness of the train when passing through the connecting sections.
Features of joggled fishplate include:
- Good toughness
- Difficult to get rusty
- High level design
Rail bolt
Rail bolt is another important component of railway fastening system. It is always used in the ends of two rail tracks to connect them together with the rail fish plate. With an oval neck, the rail bolt can be prevented from turning when torqued. After heat-treated, the track bolt will be stretch a little, then they should be tightened after initial application. And in general, the rail bolt is used with square nuts and spring washer. The size of rail bolt varies from the different international standards of rail tracks and the common types are Diamond neck track bolt, Track bolt of Russian standard, Button head oval neck track bolt, Fish bolt, Rail bolt NF F50-008, Clip bolt, anchor bolt, T-bolt clamp, Clamp bolt and inserted bolt for Russia and other special bolts such as Frog rail bolts and so on.
Typical rail bots include:
- Button head oval neck track bolt
- Diamond neck track bolt
- Rail bolt NF F50-008
- Clip bolt with BSW thread
- Fish bolt used for rail joints (with rail nuts and spring washers)
- Clip bolt HS26 & HS32
- Clamp bolt and inserted bolt for Russia
- Anchor bolt
- T-bolt
- Special bolt
- Tunnel bolt
Frog rail bolts
The most obvious sign of Frog bolt is the square headed. And it also has a variety of lengths and diameters which are depended on the rail section in use and the location of the bolt in the frog.
Features of frog rail bolts:
- Good dimensional accuracy and stability
- Good batch traceability
- High quality and workmanship
- Reliable
During the process of connecting the rail tracks, both the rail fishplate and rail bolt make up the connection. They all have an important effect on the transportation of railway. So if the quality of the railway fish plate or rail bolt is poor, the caused consequence would be unimaginable. In order to prevent the unsafe factors, we should take a few basic precautions and inspection in the life.