Rail spike, one of the products of AGICO Rail Fasteners, is used to connect the steel rail with rail sleeper or bind the rail plate and rail sleeper together. Generally, the rail spike is divided into four types: common spike, against freezing damage spike, spring spike and screw spike.
Common Spike
Common spike, also called hook spike or dog spike, mainly used to connect the steel rail or rail plate with the rail sleeper. The cross section of each side is 16mm, and length is 165mm. The surface of the rod should be smooth and bright, flying edge shall not be more than 2mm. There shall be no crack in the joint of the head and the rod. The cutting edge shall not have burr and folding.
Against Freezing Damage Spike
Against freezing damage spike is same to common spike in material and manufacturing process. The reason of calling against freezing damage spike is that it is longer than the common one, and the longer length is used for the treatment of frost. With different thickness of the plate and damage degree, against freezing damage spike has various choice of 185, 205, 230, 255, 280mm.
Spring Spike
Spring spike is made of round or square spring steel, which has lots of patterns. The clamping part has certain elastic deformation, which greatly reduces the rail vibration, so it is called spring spike. When the sleeper deforms under stress, it can still maintain enough clamping force on fastener, and the pulling resistance and thrust resistance are higher than the common one. However, it is seldom used in China.
Screw Spike
Screw spike is used to connect the steel rail with the concrete sleeper. The lower part of the rod is screw, and the upper part is bolt. The pulling resistance is 0.5 ~ 1.0 times higher than the common one, but thrust resistance is about 50% less. Due to the inconvenient dismantling and difficulty of adjusting the gauge, it is generally used in track turnout. When install the screw spike, it needs to fix the rod on the concrete sleeper’s reserved hole, and the upper bolts should be used to fix gusset plate or elastic.
Maintenance of Rail spike
The spike plays a very important role in the rail fastening system, so railroad workers should check and maintain it regularly. After long time’s using, it need to be replaced.
When to replace the rail spike?
- The spike is in natural exposure for a long time.
- The spike is often grinded by the vehicle and makes the spike damaged.
- When the shape is in deformation.
- When the spike has been corroded.
- The rail spike should be placed on above circumstances. Since the spike is related to the safety of the whole track and train, the replace method is very important. It can be replaced with the help of professional railroad spike puller, which can pull out the useless or harmful spike quickly, accurately and clearly.
