The Railway Ties

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The rectangular objects that are placed on the railway track in order to support the rails are called the railway ties. In the past time the railway ties were made up of woods in fact this is the traditional form of such ties but nowadays mostly in European and Asian countries pre-stressed concrete railroad ties are used. The railroad ties come in steel and plastic composite ties as well. The steel ties are mainly used in the secondary line of US although none of the steel made or plastic made ties are as popular as the wood or concrete.

Forms of railroad ties:

The railroad ties or railway sleepers are used being shaped in various forms according to convenience. These are like

• Twin tie: In this form of tie two pre- stressed ties are connected with each other by rods of steel. In tracks that have prickly camber or in the tracks that bears the stress of temperature, such twin ties are used.

• Y shaped ties: The Y shaped ties came into existence in the year 1983 and it is a very uncommon form of railroad ties.  The Y shaped ties are characterized with load dispersal facility for which it diminishes the size of weight. The degree of noise is quite high in this type of ties although its resistance is worth admiring.
  
• Wide ties:  In order to rise the on the side conflict of the railway track and on the other side to trim down weight pressure such a railway tie gets used. This very railroad tie is mainly used in Germany.

•  Frame ties:  This very railroad tie is used in Austria. Having this form of tie the railway track gets support in both the tangential and longitudinal angle and it support the middle part as well. The main advantage of such tie is it diminishes the weight strain and raises resistance laterally.

Bi block tie and ladder track are two other types of railway ties that also have a great use.

Types of the railroad ties:

As already said the traditional railroad ties are made up of wood but as the time past the need of some alternative railway ties came into existence for the sake of convenience and safety. At the present times there are several other railway ties made up of different materials are available like stone block, plastic made railroad ties, concrete ties that are pre- stressed steel made and in fact rubber fused railroad ties.

Function of railroad ties:

The railroad ties are placed perpendicularly to the railway track and it helps the rails to stay vertical. It also helps the rails to keep in the proper gauge.  Other than these the railroad ties controls the weight and the resistance of the railway track.

Exceptional uses:

The railroad ties have some exceptional uses other than the railway track. The traditional for of the railroad sleepers that is the wooden sleeper nowadays are used for landscaping purpose, farming issues and even keeping hold of the walls.