GB2423105A - Method of laying an S & C crossover of a railway track - Google Patents

Abstract

The method wherein the S and C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers comprises the steps of: a) building up the S and C crossover at a location remote from the installation site; b) breaking the S and C crossover down into panels; c) transporting the panels of the S and C crossover by rail to the installation site; d) lifting the panels into place at the installation site, and e) joining the panels together to form the S and C crossover and joining it to the adjacent track. When breaking the S and C crossover down into panels the rails 12 on long bearers 16 are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave bearers 18b and the bearers 16 removed and the long bearers are secured in their relative positions after the rails and slave bearers are removed within a panel by slave rails. The breaking down of such a crossover in situ can provide the same method for removal.

Description

Title: Method of Laying an S&C crossover of a Railway Track The present

invention relates to a method of laying railway line S&C crossovers, particularly in the context of relaying such S&C crossovers, but not exclusively as the same method can be used for initial installation.

S&C crossovers are what are commonly referred to by the general public as "points", but in the industry are known as S&C crossovers. After a switch there are two sets of rails, those which go straight on down the same line and those which head off at an angle to another line onto which trains can be diverted by the switch, known as a "crossing", the combination of the switch and a crossing is therefore known in the industry a "switch and crossing" or "S&C" for short. To complete the diversion of a train from one line to another requires each of the two lines to have an S&C, with the two sets of crossing rails being connected together, and this combination is known in the industry as an "S&C crossover".

Railway tracks comprise of rails and bearers (commonly known by the general public as sleepers). The majority of UK railway tracks are laid on standard length bearers (which have a length in the range 2.4m to 3.8m) , but in the UK long bearers are used for parts of S&C crossovers, and these bearers extend across the two adjacent railway tracks at least along the length over which rails cross from one track to the other, i.e. the two joined crossings. In the industry the term bearers is specific to "sleepers" made of concrete whilst the term timbers is used for "sleepers" of wood. However, in the interests of brevity, in this specification the term bearers will be used to refer to "sleepers" of either type.

A pre-made section of track, comprising the rails and bearers fixed together and ready to be lifted into position is known as a panel. Such panels being part of an S&C crossover are known as S&C panels.

In the UK S&C crossovers have traditionally been relayed by the following method. The new S&C crossover is built up on a piece of land adjacent where it is to replace the old S&C crossover, with the rails being secured to the bearers. The old track parts, rails and bearers, are removed and the new S&C crossover is broken down into panels and lifted into place panel by panel, before being joined up with the existing track either side of the section being replaced.

This method does however suffer from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, a relatively large area of flat land is needed close by to build up the replacement s&c crossover, and often this is not readily available. Secondly, and more importantly, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the build of the replacement s&c crossover when it is conducted in such an open and uncontrolled environment. Thirdly, the workers all have to transported to the site, and it may not be possible to use workers with particular experience of such work as a result.

On the mainland of Europe S&C crossovers are replaced by manufacturing the replacement section in a specialised work yard before transporting them to the site, removing the old sections and installing the new sections.

However, due to the differences between railways on mainland Europe and in the UK the methods used in mainland Europe cannot be transferred directly to the UK. This is primarily because the tracks in the UK are much closer together then the tracks in mainland Europe, which means that S&C crossovers have different layouts and also that the "tunnel" available for trains travelling along tracks in the UK is much more tightly confined.

It is desirable to use a method in the UK which helps to alleviate the problems described above.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of laying an S&C crossover of a railway track where the S&C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers, the method comprising the steps of: a) building up the S&C crossover at a location remote from the installation site; b) breaking the S&C crossover down into panels; c) transporting the panels of the S&C crossover by rail to the installation site; d) lifting the panels into place at the installation site, and e) joining the panels together to form the S&C crossover and joining it to the adjacent track.

Preferably when breaking the S&C crossover down into panels the rails on long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave bearers.

Conveniently when breaking the S&C crossover down into panels the long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave rails.

The method of the invention will now be described with reference to the relaying of an S&C crossover, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates schematically a pair of adjacent railway tracks with an S&C crossover to be removed for relaying; Figure 2 illustrates schematically the railway tracks of Figure 1 with the S&C crossover removed; Figure 3 illustrates schematically the railway tracks of Figure 1 with a first panel of the new S&C crossover installed; Figure 4 illustrates schematically the railway tracks of Figure 1 with long bearers and further rails of the S&C crossover installed; Figures 5 to 7 illustrate schematically the railway tracks of Figure 1 with further rails of the S&C crossover installed as the laying of the S&C crossover progresses; Figure 8 illustrates schematically the railway tracks of Figure 1 with the new S&C crossover fully installed; Figures 9 and 10 illustrate schematically the use of slave bearers to support rail sections in place of long bearers when the S&C crossover is broken down into panels.

Referring to the figures the method of laying an S&C crossover according to the invention will be described, in the context of relaying such an S&C crossover. In Figure 1 a portion of railway track including an S&C crossover is illustrated. The portion of railway track is comprised of rails 12, standard length bearers 14 and long bearers 16. The standard length bearers 14 span pairs of rails which they support to form a single track. The long bearers 16 span across the width of the two tracks for the extent over which there are rails 12 crossing from one track to the other, and support the rails 12 in that part of the S&C crossover 10.

At the start of the relaying process the rails 12 and bearers 14, 16 of the old S&C crossover 10 at the installation site are removed, leaving just the tracks to either side of the S&C crossover, as illustrated in Figure 2. The removal of the old S&C crossover can be destructive, i.e. down to the individual component parts of rail sections and bearers, if the S&C crossover is being scrapped, and this is what has happened in the past. However, in many cases the S&C crossover can be refurbished for reuse at another location very cost effectively. If this is the intention then, rather than destructively removing the S&C crossover, it is broken down into panels and carefully removed for transport to a remote refurbishment location.

Clearly the same considerations apply with regard to the transport of the S&C panels of the old S&C crossover as for the S&C panels of the new S&C crossover for installation. Therefore the following description of how to break the S&C crossover down into transportable panels applies equally to the breaking down of an existing S&C crossover for removal for refurbishment.

Prior to the relaying process commencing the whole of the new S&C crossover 10 has been built up at a location remote from the installation site.

This location is preferably a specialised switch production facility and may well be tens or even hundreds of miles away from the installation site. Ideally the production facility provides a covered environment for the building up or refurbishment of S&C crossovers 10 in order that they can be produced in a well controlled environment for optimum quality. It is envisaged that only one or two such production facilities might be required for the whole of the UK rail network.

Once the whole of the new S&C crossover 10 is built up, that is laid out exactly as it will be at the installation site, with the rails 12 secured to the bearers 14, 16 as in the full installation, it is broken down into panels which can be transported by rail to the installation site. Those parts of the S&C crossover 10 which comprise rails 12 and standard length bearers 14 are simply broken into panels of a length which can be placed onto rail wagons for transport. However, the same approach cannot be used for the parts of the S&C crossover 10 which comprise rails 12 and long bearers 16, as these are too wide to be transported on UK railways. For these parts of the S&C crossover 10 slave rails and slave bearers are used to break it down into panels which are small enough for transport.

Referring to Figures 9 and 10, a part of an S&C crossover 10 comprising rails l2ato 12f and long bearers 16 is illustrated. The rails 12 to 12 are secured to slave bearers 18a and 18b located beneath the rails 12 between the long bearers 16 by bolts (not shown) as illustrated in Figure 9. They are thus maintained in their correct relative positions when removed from the long bearers 16, as shown in Figure 10 where they form a panel 22 of a size which can be transported on the UK railways. The long bearers 16 are then secured to slave rails (not shown) in place of the rails 12, in numbers small enough to provide panels which can be transported on the UK railways, whilst maintaining their relative positions. Some panels may comprise rails 12 secured to some standard length bearers 14 and some slave bearers 18, depending on how it is best to breakdown a particular S&C crossover 10 into panels for transport.

At the installation site relaying of the S&C crossover 10 commences at one end of the S&C crossover 10 with panels which comprise rails 12 and standard length bearers 14, as illustrated in Figure 3.

Then the long bearers 16 transported in panels comprising the long bearers 16 and slave rails are laid, and the slave rails removed, as illustrated in Figure 4.

Next the rails 12 transported secured to slave bearers 18 are lifted into place, secured to the long bearers 16, and the slave bearers 18 then removed, such that the rails 12 are located in their final positions, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Finally, the remaining panels which comprise rails 12 and standard length bearers 14 are lifted into place, as illustrated in Figure 7.

All of the rails 12 and bearers 14, 16 are then in place and the other operations required to complete the installation, such as tamping the ballast on which the tracks are laid and welding the rails 12, are undertaken.

As indicated above, although the method has been described in the context of the relaying of an S&C crossover 10 the same method may be used for the initial laying of an S&C crossover rather than renewal.

In the present specification "comprises" means "includes or consists of" and "comprising" means "including or consisting of".

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (7)

1. A method of laying an S&C crossover of a railway track where the S&C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers, the method comprising the steps of: a) building up the S&C crossover at a location remote from the installation site; b) breaking the S&C crossover down into panels; c) transporting the panels of the S&C crossover by rail to the installation site; d) lifting the panels into place at the installation site, and e) joining the panels together to form the S&C crossover and joining it to the adjacent track.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein when breaking the S&C crossover down into panels the rails on long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave bearers.

3. A method according to claim I or 2 wherein when breaking the S&C crossover down into panels the long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave rails.

4. A method of removing an S&C crossover of a railway track, in a manner suitable for subsequent refurbishment, where the S&C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers, the method breaking the S&C crossover down into panels; within which a) the rails on long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave bearers, and b) the long bearers are secured in their relative positions within a panel by slave rails

5. A method of laying an S&C crossover of a railway track where the S&C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. A method of removing an S&C crossover of a railway track, in a manner suitable for subsequent refurbishment, where the S&C crossover is comprised of rails, standard length bearers and long bearers, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.