Are rail joiners prototypical?

I didn't think they were, but I was wrong! The Central Pacific used them for the first 3 years, then switched over to fish plates when the "chairs" were found to be unreliable. :teeth:

 

It never ceases to amaze me, there IS a prototype for everything!:thumbs_up:

 

I have seen similar devices like steel cradles that help align/attach rail of different sizes, such as when going from a main line to a siding.

 

"The American Railway Chair Manufacturing Company".
How cool is that? Those were different times. Now it would be called ARCMO or something.

 

Looks easier to solder, too.

 

That appears to have been a pretty good idea at the time. However, I can imagine that over the years the stress and weather would take it's toll on the "chair" and result in the breaking off of the "Lips of the Chair"

 

Just to clarify.

Railroaders know "rail joiners" as angle bars one bolted on each side of a rail joint to fasten them together. "Fish plates" are really tie plates upon which the rail sits and allows the weight of the train and rail to be distributed onto the tie without cutting into the tie. Tieplates have a notch on one side which when installed properly to the outside or field side of the rail along with track spikes keeps the trackl in gauge.

Barry

 

Yeah, but I wonder if they had them aprox every 66 3/5th feet? :teeth:

Come on.. Think about it for a minute!!! hehheh

 

dks2855;

Out here on the BNSF those angle bars are known as "step joints". Used as shown to go from one rail weight to another.

 

The "step joints" look differently than I thought and not so much like a rail joiner.