Bullhead rail keys

[emergencybrake]

Hi,

It always make me wonder... Are the keys on the rail supposed to be knocked right into the center of the chair or not? As most of the time, I seem them half knocked in, and in some cases, it is only knocked in by 1cm, leaving most of the key outside.

[Tom]

Looks OK to me. Generally the action of the train passing over has a tendency to drive the key further in (and eventually out the other side).

[railtechnician]

Yep that key is fine. They are knocked in, in the normal direction of travel and as Tom says the movement of traffic tends to drive the key in further. The sprung metal keys are less likely to drive right through the chair than wooden keys which tend to dry out and then fail to wedge the rail at all dropping out with vibration. Wooden keys are usually fitted at trainstop locations and are nailed into position to prevent them dropping out. For new work there is a newer type of double ended sprung key that is far less likely to be vibrated out of the chair.

Brian

[Deleted]

they no longer use the wooden keys around trainstops its these double sprung keys instead but i cant rememeber the name of them

[railtechnician]

aetearlscourt said:

they no longer use the wooden keys around trainstops its these double sprung keys instead but i cant rememeber the name of them

I'm not sure that I ever knew what the double sprung keys were called anyway!

Brian

[Tom]

ISTR they were called Double Panlock Keys.

I remember the 21 P/Way checks and tests always used to say about installing wooden or double panlocks near trainstops, but they never mentioned anything about near floodgates. I remember an afternoon as an apprentice when we had the Victoria suspended south of Warren Street due to a loose key earthing around the Green Park NB floodgate. Oops.

[railtechnician]

tom said:

ISTR they were called Double Panlock Keys.

I remember the 21 P/Way checks and tests always used to say about installing wooden or double panlocks near trainstops, but they never mentioned anything about near floodgates. I remember an afternoon as an apprentice when we had the Victoria suspended south of Warren Street due to a loose key earthing around the Green Park NB floodgate. Oops.

That's funny, when I passed out as a signal lineman it was the 19 P-Way checks and tests! I think that all depended on the instructor and his view of the basic tasks.

Floodgates were not mentioned when I was training either. I always found Floodgate Relay Rooms interesting places, however, especially the dates on the relays!

Brian

[emergencybrake]

Thanks for the information guys.