A Paper by J. G. HA V, B.Sc.(Eng.), A.M.l.e.E., M.I.Struct.E.

(Member)

RAILWAY SLEEPERS AND FASTENINGS ON

TH E SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS
HIS paper will be presented at an ordinary monthly meeting of the Institution to
T be held in the Assembly Hall, Kelvin House, Johannesburg, on Tuesday, June 26,
1962, at 8 p.m. This meeting will at the same time constitute a joint meeting with the
Division of Railways and Harbours.

SYNOPSIS
LEEPERS and fastenings have a particular function to perform; and recent developments have
S necessitated the introduction of certain auxiliary features. Long welded rails, effective track
insulation for signalling purposes and the need for resilience have all been major developments.
The precise function of components to meet these requirements is dealt with, together with the
laboratory tests with which a fastening must comply before it is accepted for trials in the actual
track.
Wood and steel sleepers and fastenings are described together with the changes which have
taken place in the design of fastenings to comply with rnodern conditions.
Check rails are used on curves to minimise wear on the high leg. The requisite check rail
chairs have presented a problem for many years. Satisfactory designs for wood and steel sleepers
have recently been developed and are described.
Ash dropped in section is very detrimental to the track. The only way to obviate this is to
provide ash pits at watering stations. Conventional pits were not very successful and the solution
seems to be a shallow pit comprising cast iron pedestals carrying the rail and, in turn, supported
on concrete sleepers.
A major portion of the paper deals with concrete sleepers. Initially, in common with other
railways throughout the world, small scale experiments were first carried out and the use of
concrete sleepers has been gradually extended until substantial orders have been placed for their
supply. Initially, proprietary makes of sleepers and fastenings were used and these are described.
Recently, the South African Railways have developed their own design of fastening.
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

Introduction fastening for gauge variation. Furthermore, on curves,

the pioneer days of railway construction the flat
11'\bottom rail was merely spiked direct to wooden
sleepers. As trains increased in weight and speed it
became necessary to improve on this original fastening
for wooden sleepers and various types of soleplates and
rail chairs were used. J n addition steel sleepers and, in
more recent years, concrete sleepers were developed. To-
day wood, steel and concrete sleepers are in general use
and the fastenings for securing the rail to them are
many and varied.
The main function of any fastening is to hold the
rail down firmly and to distribute the load to the sleeper.
Due primarily to braking and acceleration, there is a
longitudinal movement of the rail relative to the sleepers;
this movement is known as creep and an effective fas-
tening must be able to resist it. Furthermore, the action
of creep must not tend to loosen the fastening.
Where sharp curves are encountered it is necessary
to widen the rail gauge. On the South African Railways,
for example, the normal gauge of 3ft-6in. is applicable
to straight track and curves flatter than 1,650 ft radius,
thereafter the gauge increases gradually up to 3 ft-6i in.
for curves sharper than 528 ft radius. It is, therefore, a
great advantage if provision is made in the design of the
the side of the head of the high leg rail becomes worn
resulting in an increase in gauge and again it is a great
advantage if gauge adjustment can be made in the rail
fastening itself.
In recent years so called resilient track has received
considerable publicity. The underlying theory is that
trains set up high frequency vibrations in the track which
tend to loosen all the fastenings. It is claimed that the
deleterious effect of these high frequency vibrations can
by counteracted by providing a cushion under the rail
to absorb the vibrations and a fastening which is capable
of exerting a constant pressure on top of the flange of the
rai\. There is no doubt that some measure of resilience is
advantageous but the amount required is not neces-
sarily the same for all railways.
The introd uction ofJong welded rails in 1956 brought
about further essential requirements for sleepers and
fastenings. The former had to be heavy to hold the rail
down and prevent buckling while, with the latter, it
was essential that the action of expansion and con-
traction did not have the result ofloosening the fastening.
This, as will be dealt with later under wooden sleepers,
necessitated the development of a completely new
fastening.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962 103

 In suburban services standard practice is to use
the twO rails to provide an electric circuit for signalling
purposes and to achieve this, wooden sleepers have
always been used. In recent years, to improve the traffic
density on single lines, centralised traffic control has
been introduced where the rails are again used to pro-
vide a circuit for signalling purposes. It has, therefore,
become necessary to provide insulation for steel sleepers
and to provide either insulated concrete sleepers or
concrete sleepers which can be insulated at a reasonable
cost. All forms of insulation must of course be satis-
factory even under completely saturated cloudburst
conditions.
Tests
With the developments taking place in the design
of track fastenings it is essential to have some form of
accelerated test or tests carried out to arrive at con-
clusions within a reasonable time. In 1952, Mr. A. Gold-
stein and the Author were commissioned by the South
African Railways to proceed overseas to investigate,
among other matters, the latest advances in permanent
way engineering. An account of these studies is con-
tained in a paper read before the Institution by Mr. A.
Goldstein and the Author and published in the Trans-
actions, July 1953 1• As a result, the South African
Railways purchased three Vibrogir testing machines, the
first being brought into service in 1956 and the re-
maining two in 1958. A full description of the machine
is contained in the paper referred to. These machines
have been invaluable in developing South African
Railways' designs and in testing various fastenings offered
by private concerns. It is estimated that 15 hours in
the machine represents a year in the track and, to be
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)
satisfactory, a fastening must be able to stand up to at
least 100 hours in the machine.
Creep tests are also carried out on the same machine
by attaching springs to the sleeper thus exerting a
horizontal pull. To be satisfactory it is estimated that
the fastening must be able to withstand a horizontal
pull of I ton per sleeper per pair of rails while the
machine is vibrating.
To test electrical insulation properties a pair 0f
sleepers are laid in dirty ballast and fastened to two short
pieces of rail which in turn are coupled to a resistance
meter. To simulate cloudburst conditions the whole
assembly is thoroughly saturated with water and the
minimum resistance under a continuous spray is measured
Up to the present a figure of 4,000 ohms has been aimed
at but tests are being conducted to determine a more
correct figure.
It is realised that the testing procedure outlined
above is not ideal but it is, nevertheless, an invaluable
guide and before any fastening is accepted for track
tests it must satisfy these laboratory tests.
Finally, the sleeper and/or fastening is subjected to
track tests and for this purpose the sites are carefully
chosen to test the particular property or characteristic
within the minimum period of time.
104
Ballast profile
With wood and steel sleepers the standard ballast
profile has varied very little over the years. The tradi-
tional arrangement being to provide ballast level with
the top of the sleeper, firmly pack the ballast under the
rail and lightly pack under the centre of the sleeper. This
profile, as far as is known, represents almost universal
practice. The only major change to this arrangement is
that int.roduced by signalling engineers where, to en-
sure electrical insulation on track circuited sections, the
ballast must be at least one inch below the underside of
rail.
With concrete sleepers the traditional ballast profile
has undergone some changes. To prevent centre binding
most railways in Europe (where the track gauge is 4ft-
8! in.) adopted a trough in the ballast. When con-
crete sleepers were first introduced in South Africa, a
troughed ballast profile was adopted in accordance with
overseas practice at that time, although it was realised
that with the narrower 3 ft-6 in. gauge it would possibly
be difficult to maintain the trough. Despite every
eRort it has been found impossible to maintain the
trough and in 1961 it was decided to adopt the tradi-
tional form of ballast profile for concrete sleepers as
well.
The standard ballast profile for wood and concrete
sleepers is shown on Fig. I. That for steel sleepers is
one inch shallower to compensate for the smaller volume
of steel sleepers and still maintain the same volume of
ballast per mile of track.
Fig. I-Ballast profile for wood and concrete sleepers
Wood sleepers and fastenings
Sleepers
South Africa is not well served with timbers which
are suitable for sleepers. Gums seem to present en-
couraging prospects but are rather prone to splitting.
Gums only really mature after about 35 years so it is
possible that splitting has been aggravated by trees
being cut too early. Tests are at present being carried
out by bolting and other means to prevent splitting and
the whole subject of the use of this timber is being
further investigated.
For many years South Africa imported jarrah (a
variety of gum) from Australia but just prior to the last
World War, supplies ceased and it is only in the last
few years that supplies have again become available.
This was probably caused through heavy cutting of
trees for war purposes. During the war period supplies
of suitable timber were procured from the neighbouring
African territories and these have been the main source
THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962
 of supply ever since; generally, these timbers have been
most satisfactory.
The standard wooden sleeper was for many years
10 in. x 5 in. in cross section and 7 ft long, but the length
ha~ recently been reduced to 6ft-9in.
Standard fastenings
As in most railways, soleplates and coachscrews are
widely used but, for first class track, a better fastening is
required and for this purpose the cast iron chair with the
taper key was, until a few years ago a most satisfactory
fastening. In this cha ir the taper key is driven in the
direction of creep and the rail is thus firmly held. The
chair does not, however, provide for any gauge variation
or adjustment. In 195 1/52 a number of sketch plans
were prepared using clips and bolts for holding down the
rail but on account of the emphasis on res ilierz t track at
that time, the designs were shelved.
In 1956, when long welded rails were introduced,
difficulties were expe -ienced with the taper key; if it
was driven in the direction of expansion it became
loose when the rail contracted at nigh t and, if driven in
the direction of contraction, it became loose when the
raill expanded during the day. As no defin ite conclu-
sions had been arrived at on resilient track the sketch
plla ns prepared in 1951/52 were re-examined, the most
suitable design chosen and fi nal drawings were prepared
of the clip and bollt chair which is now the standard
chair for wooden sleepers.
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)
Fig. 2-Clip and bolt chair
The design, which is illustrated in Fig. 2, comprises
a cast iron chair fixed to the sleeper by coach screws in
the conventional manner. The rail is fastene d to the
chair by means of a clip with a tail and a bolt with a
round shank and a T-shaped head. A rectangular slot
which is just large enough to allow the T-head to pa~s,
is recessed in the top of the chair and opens out into a
larger recess. Nter insertion of the bolt it is rotated
through 90 degrees, thus engaging against the bottom
face of the slot and the clip placed in position. The tail
of the clip forces the T-head against a flat vertical sur-
face thus preventing the bolt from rotating. The clips
THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962
bear against two projecting lugs which are positioned in
relation to the coachscrew holes thus making it possible
to pre-assemble chairs on sleepers in a depot. Gauge
variation and adjustment is readily obtained by varying
sizes of clips, conversion to resilient track is simple by
providing a grooved rubber pad under the rail and a
double coil spring washer under the nut and, for cases
where the insulation properties of timber sleepers are
inadequate, an insulation envelope with protection plates
as described later for steel sleepers can be added.
Tests with the prototype made in March, 1957,
were fully up to expectat ions and soon after large orders
were placed. The Fllrst of the new chairs was inserted
in the track in March, 1958. The chair is suitable for
96- and 81-lb rails, but is readily adapted to other rail
sections by suitable clips as has already been done for
61- lb ra ils.
Fig. 3 shows a typical stretch of track on wood
sleepers with the clip and bolt chair.
Fig. 3 - Typical stretch of wood
sleepered track with clip and bolt chair
Ph(l!(l: Smtih A/ritall Rni/u!fJ)'\
Proprietary makes of fastenings
As a result of the overseas visit of Mr. A. Goldstein
and the Author in 1952, tenders were invited for resilient
fastenings and orders were placed for various types
approximating 10 miles of track. In conj unct1ion with
track tests, laboratory tests were also carried out.
In genera]" these tests have shown very clearly that
in South Africa, as probably in any other country in the
world, there are special local considerations which have a
significant bearing on the problem and a fastening which
is satisfactory in one country is not necessarily as satis-
factory in another. When proprietary brands of fas-
tenings are now offered to the Administration for test
purposes, each case is carefully examined firstly from
the technical angle and secondly wheth er production is
economic and comparable with present standard fas-
tenings. Only then will such fastenings be subjected to
laboratory tests and if these are satisfactory, a limited
number procured for track tests.
105
 Steel sleepers and fastenings similar to the present standard. The present fastening
which was developed in 1922/23 comprises two small
Sleepers longitudinal slots on each side of the rail. The clip
holding down the rail has a tail which engages against
Due to the overall dry climate in South Africa, steel the back of the slot and the clip is held down by a T-
si\eepers have always been popular, with a life of anything headed bol t with a square neck. The T-head bears
up to 40 years; in fact some old pre-19]() sleepers are against the underside of the sleeper and the square neck
still il1 use. In basic principle the steel sleeper is very engages aga inst the sides of the slot and prevents the
simple; consisting merely of an inverted trough with holt from rotating. With a fixed position of the s'ots,
ends turned down to improve lateral resistance. In most the gauge can be varied or adjusted by using different
designs the standard rail cant of I in 20 is provided in sizes of clips and, similarly, can be made to suit a variety
the rail seat itself but with some of the pre-1910 types of rail sections. The fastening is illustrated in Fig. 6.
the top of the sleeper was in one plane and canted sole-
plates were provided. The present 81-lb steel sleeper
which has canted rail seats was originally designed in
1923 and in 1951 it was slightly amended to give a
better distribution of metal, providing an increase of
22 per cent in strength with only 3i per cent increase in
weight. The present design is 6ft-9~in. long, weighs
139 Ib and is illustrated in Fig. 4.

r·QAI,:"' <_S F._~T ~.. ....j

I

F-·----·---.-.. ------~· .JI

I
\).-~--J
f--- - -- - -- O .... ~~" '_..":_ I.EJo.IC.TI...I ",I. g~

Fig. 4--81-lb steel sleeper

With long welded rails it is of paramount impor- Fig. 6-Clip and bolt fastening for steel sleepers
tance that the sleeper shall be heavy in order to re- Insulated fastenings
duce the tendency for blLlckling of the track. In this
regard the steel sleeper weighing only 150lb with vVith a steel sleeper which is a very good conductor
fasteni ngs compares unfavourably with wood or con- of electricity very efficient insulation must of necessity be
crete weighing respectively 210 and 4001b, on the provided between rail and sleeper if the one rail is to be
average, with fastenings. Fig. 5 shows a typicacl stretch of effect ively insulated from the other. In add ition, the
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

steel sleepered track. provisio n of insulat ion with in the narrow con fi nes of the
standard fasten ings is diffic u lt. One method which
has met with a certain measure of success 0 11 straights
and flat curves is the envelope insulation developed in
Switzerland and adapted for use in South Africa in
1956. This is illustrated in Fig. 7.

Fig. 5-Typical stretch of steel sleepered track

Photo; SmIth A/n"can Rai/map

Nonnal fastenings

The most common fastening in the pre-!9! 0

sleepers was the pressed up lug or riveted lug types where Fig. 7-Envelope insulation for steel sleepers
the rail was held in position by a taper key. This design
was not satisfactory as in course of time the lug opened I n this method the hase of the rail is clasped by an
out. Other types of fastenings comprised so leplates and envelope of neoprene insulation around which are
various types of clips and bolts, one design being very placed galvanised protection plates to clistrihute the

106 THE CIVIL ENGINEER iln South Africa - June 1962

 pressure from the clips over a wider area. [r will be

l?
noted on Fig. 7 that the protecting plates overlap one
another under the rail. This results in the one plate
being slightly different from the other. Tests have been
carried out with two identical half plates meeting on
,1
the centre line of the rail and these have been found to
be quite satisfactory. . \

Another form cifinsulation which has ilcell developed

in South Africa is to place the rail on a flat neoprene pad
and provide fibre caps to fit over the toe of the clip.
Since the fibre caps bear tightly against the neoprene r- 19"
- -- - ---- x 71;/

pad, the rail is virtually enclosed in an insulated en- Fig. 8- Check chair for wooden sleepers
velope. This method has been developed by a private
organisation and is patented.

Check chairs
General
Check rails are used extensively for minimising the
wear on the rail on the high leg of sharp curv(:s. Of all
track fastenings the check rail chair has probably pre-
sented the greatest problem due to the multiplicity of
parts and the heavy lateral forces to which the fastening
is subjected.
In the main there are four components to be accom-
modated namely, two rails, a chair and' a bu ttress and the
complete assembly is required to provide a fixed flange-
way. It will be appreciated that manufacturing tole-
rances make it virtually irr.possible to obtain a good (it
Fig. 9 - Typical stretch of checkrailed track on wood sleepers
of all components and the heavy lateral forces to which - New design check chair low leg, old cast iron chair high leg
the chair is subjected in the track accentuates any inade- Photo: S(mth African Railways
quate fit which may be present.
Check chairs on steel sleepers
Check chair for wooden sleepers
I t will be noted that in the design for wood sleepers
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

The obvious solution was to provide an adjustal)le
buttress, but due to limitations in space and the necessity
for producing an economic design this was not easy and
it was not un til 1954 that a satisfactory solution was
found for wooden sleepers. This comprised a buttress
pivoting around a shoulder on the chair and forced
up against the web of the rail by a bolt. By this means it
was possible to take up all slackness and still be able to
allow for a certain amount of wear, thus ensuring that
the lateral thrust was always taken by the buttress.
At that time the cast iron chair with taper key was the
normal standard fastening for uncheckrailcd track and in
this check chair both the running and check rails were
held by a taper key. As has already been pointed out the
adoption of long welded rails rendered the taper key
ineffective and it became necessary to re-design the chair
to suit the new type of clip. The desired result was
achieved in 1958 by introducing a bolt with a long
threaded portion. The clip securing the check rail is
then placed in position and secured by a nut. The
buttress is provided with wings which clamp over the
nut thus preventing the nut from slacking back. A
further nut placed above the buttress then draws the
buttress down to engage against the web of the rail.
The complete chair is illustrated in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 shows
a stretch of check-railed track with the new chair on
the low leg and the old standard chair with taper key
on the high leg.
there is a button rib between running and checkrail.
I n check c hairs for steel sleepers th is was su bs ti tu ted by
a clip held down by a T-bolt in the normal way for
steel sleepers. Despite all efforts in providing specially
designed bolts even in high tensile steel, continual
breakage of these bolts was experienced. In 1952, a
design wa~ prepared in which the sleeper itself was
converted to a special check rail sleeper by welding the
requisite pieces into position and replacing the central
bolt by a button rib. The design proved most satis-
factory and is the present standard. A further improve-
ment is to adapt the fastening to take an adjustable
buttress similar to that for wood sleepers. A design for
this has been prepared and arrangements are in hand for
a number to be manufactured for test purposes.
Ash pits
Ash dropped in section by steam locomotives has
always been a problem for maintenance engineers as
much damage results. The simplest method of ob-
viating this practice is to provide ash pits at watering
stations where disposal of ash can be suitably arranged.
Initial trials with conventional pits were not very
successful and the first significan t advance was made in
1953 when a shallow ash pit was designed comprising a
concrete sleeper with two concrete pedestals on which
the old design of cast iron chair was mounted. Due to

THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962 107

 the hot ash the pedestals had a life of only auout twelve
months. This design was uninsulated and the speed over
the pits was limited to 15 m.p .h. Insulation was subse-
quently requested and was achieved when the new
design of clip and bolt chair was adopted but before
many sleepers and pedestals could be made, representa-
tions were made for the speed over such pits to be in-
creased appreciably. Slow goods trains require to stop
frequently for water whi'lie fast passenger trains do not
require to stop so often. Hence a pit is required which
can be negotiated by fast passenger trains at a speed of
about 45 m.p.h.

To suit this condition a cast iron pedestal was

designed in 1960 which was supported directly on the
sleeper \vith the main essentials of the new clip and
bolt chair incorporated in the rail seat. The original
sleepers were of reinforced concrete made departmen-
tally but with the present design the sleepers are post-
stressed, designed and manufactured by a private com-
pany. The assembly is illustrated in Fig. 10. Fig. I I
shows one of the actual pits in service.
Fig. 10--Shallow ash pit
Fig. 11 A shallow ash pit in service;
concrete sleepers, cast iron pedestals
PhoJo: South African Rai/«:(1),s
Concrete sleepers and fastenings
Introduction
Block type concrete sleepers reinforced in the
normal way were llsed for loops and sidings during both
World Wars and are still being used for this purpose.
The presen t type consists of entirely separate blocks, the
track being held to gauge, at regular intervals, either
by a tie or by substituting a pair of blocks with a full
length sleeper. Between 1948 and 1952 small numbers of
concrete sleepers of proprietary makes, suitable for use
in main lilles, were submitted to the Administration and
inserted in the track for experimental purposes. In

Table I
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

Details of orders placed for concrete sleepers

Sleeper Fastening
Dale
or Numher Approx.
Order Make Typc Reinforcem en l weight :vIakc [nsulated or
Ib 1I0n-insulattd

:20.000 Sonneville Block Normal 430 Sonneville Non-insulated

1955 - ----
10,000 Stupp Full length Pre·stressed
Aexible WIres 290 Sonneville Non-insulated

·500 Beton und Full length Pre-stressed

Monierbau rigid wires 410 Clips Non-insulated
--
1957 208,000 Sonneville Block Normal 430 Sonneville Non-insulated

Full length Pre-stressed

40,000 Stupp Aexible wires 320 Sonneville Non-insulated
---
30,500 Vagneux Block Normal 430 Elastic clips Insulated

1958 30,000 Swedish 101 Block Post-stressed rod 430 Fist Insulated

439,000 Swedish 101 Block Pre-stressed rod 430 Fist Insulated

1959 - -
553,000 Vagneux Block Normal 390 S.A.R. Insulated

1960 ·10,000 Sonneville Block Normal 430 Sonneville Insulated

·Special trial orders

108 THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962

 1952, as reported in the Transactiolls, July, 1953 1, Mr. A.
Goldstein and the Author investigated the use of con-
crete sleepers in Europe and in 1955 the first orders were
placed for main line concrete sleepers manufactured in
SOUtll Africa on a commercial scale.
Types
There are in the main three types of concrete
sleepers; the block type, the full length flexible and the
full length rigid type. The block type consists of two
hlocks joined by a tie bar, the full length flexible has a
thin centre section and the full length rigid is very
strong over the centre section. Block types are rein-
forced in the traditional manner and also by post-
stressing; full length sleepers are of the pre- and post-
stressed types with wire or rod reinforcement.
Concrete sleepers are in the main covered by patents
and can only be made under licence. Up to the present
all concrete sleepers purchased have been of proprietary
makes.
Orders placed
Brief details of orders placed for concrete sleepers
and fastenings are set out in Table I. All the sleepers
listed with the exception of the Beton und Monierbau
type were or are being made in South Africa. The
Beton und Monierbau sleepers were made in Germany.

~C_~------,l~1~[_I.-------jJ
, re' - \7/ 8"
To appreciate fully the information provided in
Table I , it must be realised that all orders placed , with
the exception of the two special experimental orders,
were the result of competitive tenders and is no indication
i• •I
of any marked technical preference for the types and
SONNEVILLE makes shown.
Sonneville and Vagneux sleepers both consist of
normal reinforced concrete blocks joined by a steel tie

c~ '1--\
\ ----f{ l.~
bar cast into the blocks. In the case of the Sonneville
sleeper, as dealt with later, the tie bar serves the further
function of an anchor for the head of the bolt which
L
.' -----------' co' - 2 I/I~"
~
I...i_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ \

~
secures the rail fastening. The Stupp sleeper is a full
length flexible type pre-stressed with wires. The Sonne-
I• "j ville, Vagneux and Stupp sleepers all originate from
France. The Swedish 10 I sleeper originated in Sweden
VAGNEUX and consists of two lightly reinforced blocks of concrete
joined by a tie rod which in turn passes through a pipe
distance piece filled with concrete. This distance piece
serves the dual purpose of holding the gauge and
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

enabling the tension in the rod to be transmitted from

'\ r one block to the other. The Beton und Monierbau
sleeper originated in Germany and is a full length rigid
\ I type pre-stressed with special wires. All the above
I' sleepers are illustrated in Fig 12.
SWEDI SI-I 101 Future orders
Up to the present manufacturers have been given
the track loading and, based on proved overseas sleepers,
have produced their own design with corresponding
acceptance tests. This method while reasonably satis-
factory, particularly in the initial stages of the develop-
ment of the use of concrete sleepers, is not ideal and the
! CD' - co· Author considers more precise data should be provided.
i-" Concrete for sleepers must be of a very high quality
STUPP and of a strength of at least 8,500 Ib per square inch at
28 days. Main line track loading comprises a 22 ton
axle load with a hammer blow of 3.2 tons (I ton = 2,240
lb) and it is considered this should be taken as equivalent
.l 1. to a single vertical wheel load of 15 tons (33,600 lb) to
make allowance for all track irregulari ties, etc. For the
full length rigid sleeper certain design conditions should
/ \ be specified and in general the method adoted in Ger-
I <DI- 5__
" __ . many as described in a paper by Dip!. Ing. A. Doll en-
~i·~--------------~--'
ti tIed The concrete sleepers of the German Federal Railways?,
BETON UND MONIERBAU has much to recommend it. For conditions on the South
African Railways the Author considers the sleeper should
Fig. l2-Concrete sleepers in use he: 6ft-6 in. long and designed for a positive moment

THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962 109

 under the rail seat and a negative moment in the centre The fastening used on the early Vagneux sleeper is
of the sleeper of 90,000 Ib inches. For these design very similar to that used on the early Stupp sleepers
conditions a tensile concrete fibre stress not exceeding except that, to achieve insulation, the steel sleeper
400 Ib per square inch is· permissible. envelope insulation is provided under one rail and the
fastenings amended to suit. That used on the 1957
For the block type of sleeper, the Author considers order is the standard S.A.R. fastening.
the quality test for concrete plus a bend test should be
sufficient. The bend test being to support the end of the
sleeper on 4-in. diameter rollers over a span of 16-in.
and apply a central load in the centre of the rail seat.
All loads to be applied through 2-in. \'vide plates bedded
in plaster of paris on the sleepers. No cracks shall be
visible under a load of 40,000 Ib with the sleeper right
side up and under a load of 25,000 Ib with the s leeper
upside down. The test set-up is illustrated in Fig. 13.

g
APPLIED LOAD
2". IVz" PLATE
TOP ROUNDED
2" RAO . ----~~

'---------"'8~.
SONNE.VILLE
--=----!SEAT
1<----

END SUPPORT

Fig. 13-Bend test--Concrete sleepers

For the full length rigid sleeper more elaborate

tests will undoubtedly be necessary. The exact pattern of
these tests has not yet been determined but, based on the
experien ce in Germany2, not only should a compression
test be specified to check the quality of the con crete,
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

but also a tensile test and, for the sleeper itself, a bend
test is required where the minimum cracking resistan ce
is measured .
Proprietary fastenings
In the Sonnevil\e fastening used on the Sonnevil\e FIST
and Stupp sleepers the rai I rests on a grooved ru bber
pad and is held in position by a spring clip with two
leaves, the upper leaf holds the rail down and the lower
leaf positions the rail on the sleeper. With the Sonne-
ville sleeper the dip is held down by a T-headed bolt the
ALTEO NATIVE
head of which engages in a slot in the vertical leg of the BOL T/COACI-I5CQEW
tie bar. With the early Stupp sleepers a bolt/coach- COACI-15CCE.W.
screw was used instead of a bolt, the lower portion being
a coachscrew which engaged in a coil cast in the sleeper,
followed by a square collar used to screw the coach-
screw into position and which also engages in a square
hole in the lower leaf of the clip to prevent the coach-
screw slacking back. The upper portion is in the form
ofa bolt which enables a nut to be used to hold the upper
leaf on the rail. As a normal bolt is more satisfactory
the bolt/coachscrew was replaced in later orders by a
T-headed bolt, the head engaging in a plate cast into
the sleeper. These fastenings are non-insulated, but
tests are proceeding on a method of conversion to an BETON UNO MONIERBAU
insulated fastening. The latest order for Sonnevil\e
sleepers is for a special form of insulated fastening which
is still under test. Fig. 14-Proprietary fastenings in use on concrete sleepers

110 THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962

 In the Fist fastening the rail rests in a channel
shaped neoprene pad (grooved under the rail seat) which
in turn rests in a groove in the sleeper. The rai l is
clamped into position by means of a special clamp which
engages in a rod passed through the sleeper. Insulation
is effected firstly by the neoprene pad and secondly by
the rod wn ich passes through the sleeper, this rod be ing
coated with a layer of hard fibre insulation.
The fastenings used with the Beton und Monierbau
sleepers are the standard type used by the German
Railways for light lines. The fastening is non-insulated
and comprises a pad under the rail, with clips which fit
into a clip support recessed into the concrete. The clips
clamp the rail down by means ofa coachscrew fitting into
a wooden dowel cast into the concrete. Two types of
coachscrews are used, one following the standard
pattern and another a bolt/coachscrew similar to that
used with the early Stupp sleepers.
The Sonneville, Fist and Beton und Monierbau
fastenings are shown in Fig. 14.
South African Railways-Fastenings
Main lines
In 1958, with the development of centralised
traffic control, it became essential that one rail should
be efficiently insulated from the other on all concrete
sleepers for main lines. At that time, despite exhaustive
enquiries both in South Africa and in Europe, only one
insulated fastening was known which was reasonably
priced and which had stood up satisfactorily to track
tests. Up to that time schemes for fastenings had been
prepared, but they were too expensive and had been dis-
carded. In April of that year, however, sketch plans
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)
were made of a fastening which showed promise. Sample
sleepers and fastenings were accordingly made and by
September had successfully passed all mechanical and
electrical tests. A sample sleeper was also inserted in the
track in September and although the sleeper was not
specially designed to suit the fastening, the sleeper and
fastening is still in excellent condition. The fastening is
illustrated in Figs. 15 and 16.
Fig. l5--Standard fastening for concrete sleeper for main lines
The insulation comprises a neoprene pad between
steel soleplate and sleeper and the bolt/coachscrew is
screwed into a wooden plug. Resilience is achieved by a
THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa - June 1962
Fig. l6-Standard fastening for concrete
sleepers for main lines in the track
Photo: South A/r;crlfl Rai/ways
grooved rubber pad under the rail and a double coil
spring washer above the clip. Clips are used to hold the
rail down and by varying sizes of clips, gauge variation
and adjustment can be achieved. The bolt/coachscrew
is provided with a patented form of thread developed in
Germany specifically for screwing into the end grain of
timber. The steel soleplate and neoprene pad is held
firmly to the sleeper by means of a hexagonal collar on
the coachscrew and the tail of the clip fits between this
collar and the turn-up of the soleplate thus preventing
any slacking back. The whole assembly is recessed into
the sleeper thus all side thrusts are taken up by the
concrete over a faidy large surface. Fastenings are pro-
vided on the centre line of the sleeper to counteract any
tendency for twisting of the rail on expansion or con-
traction.
Subsidiary lines
For subsidiary lines and sidings an insulated fas-
tening is not required and as a result the fastening can
be considerably simplified. With this fastening the major
consideration is adaptability, that is, the fastening must
be suitable for gauges varying from 3 ft-6 in. to 3 ft-6! in.
and for 61-, 81- and 96-lb rails (many subsidiary lines
are laid with heavy rails which are worn beyond the
limit for their normal class of track). A fastening has
been developed for this purpose and it has undergone
satisfactory laboratory tests. The fastening is in many
respects similar to that for main lines with the omission
of the wooden plugs, insulation pad and steel soleplate.
The rail rests on a grooved rubber pad and is held down
by clips which in turn are secured by T-headed bolts
engaging in a plate cast in the sleeper.
Concrete sleepers in service
Initially, as in the case of most countries, concrete
sleepers generally were not received favourably by the
majority of engineers concerned. The drawbacks to
concrete sleepers were only too apparent and their
advantages were an unknown quantity. Today, now
that a substantial number are in use, engineers have been
able to observe their actual performance and the old
prejudices are slowly disappearing. Long welded rails
111
 in conjunction with concrete sleepers give a very smooth
and quiet running track which once it is in position is
extremely stable and requires much less maintenance
than conventional track.
One difficulty with concrete sleepers is their sus-
ceptibility to damage in derailments. Admittedly most
of the experience in this regard is with the block type of
sleeper with tie bar exposed as it has only recently been
decided to fill in the trough in the ballast. It is possible
that the damage will be less with the tie bars fully
covered. On the other hand, in 1955, the German
Railways adopted a rigid full length sleeper partly on
account of derailment problems 2 and it would appear
that further experience with this type of sleeper is justi-
fied.
Concrete sleepers are at present restricted to
straights and curves flatter than 30 chains (1,980 ft)
radius. Up to the present .this has not been a very
serious disadvantage since they have largely been
used with long welded rails where curvature is also light.
There is no doubt, however, that concrete sleepers will
in future also be r~quired on curves sharper than 30
chains radius and tests are at present being undertaken
to ascertain the limits applicable. The Author considers
that the South African Railways' design of fastening for
main lines shown in Fig. 12 is quite suitable for even the
sharpest curve on the South African Railways. For such
sharp curves it may be necessary to design a special type
of sleeper to stand up to the heavy side thrusts involved.
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)
All concrete sleepers and fastenings purchased to
date are functioning satisfactorily and no serious defects
have become apparent. Where new construction and
pre-fabricated track is involved mechanical methods of
handling have been used with success, but handling these
sleepers on single lines for re-sleepering and maintenance
still remains a problem. Various methods of assisting in
this regard have been evolved and have met with some
success, but in the main the work has to be done by
hand.
Local production
Prior to the second World War, the only track
fastening made in South Africa in quantity was the old
cast iron chair for use with the taper key. At that time
taper keys, rail clips and soleplates were made overseas
in rolled mild steel.
During the war and post-war periods, material
from overseas was almost unobtainable and the first
significant advance in South Africa was made when sole-
plates were made in cast steel and taper keys in mild
steel by drop forging. At about the same time the use of
112
malleable and spheroidal-graphite iron was being
developed and after suitable tests were carried out this
material was first accepted for taper keys and clips and
lastly soleplates. Subsequently, rail clips and sole plates
were also made in rolled mild steeL \Vith large quantities
there is little to choose from a price angle between the
two materials but in small quantities the malleable or
spheroidal-graphite iron is generally more economical.
The manufacture of bolts, nuts and coachscrews
was embarked upon early in the post-war period and
recently the double coil spring washer has been made in
this country. A light type of steel sleeper has also been
manufactured for private purposes. For the early orders
for concrete sleepers, some of the components were im-
ported but in recent orders, all components and fas-
tenings including rubber and neoprene pads have been
made in South Africa from South African materials.
The very satisfactory position has been reached,
therefore, that all track fastenings are either being manu-
factured or are able to be manufactured in South Africa.
In all cases the product is of excellent quality and equally
as good as the imported article and South African indus-
try can be justly proud of its achievements.
Conclusion
On the South African Railways there are about
29 million sleepers in use of which about 70 per cent are
steel. As yet the number of concrete sleepers actually
inserted in the track is small being about one million and of
these the majority have only recently come into use. The
average life of a good wooden sleeper is from 15 to 18
years as compared with anything up to 40 years for a
steel sleeper. Accurate figures for the life of concrete
sleepers are obviously not yet available but it is estimated
that should last at least as long as the steel sleeper.
As regards capital costs there is little to choose be-
tween the three types of sleepers; steel and concrete
sleepers with insulated fastenings cost much the same as
wood sleepers with fastenings, namely, from R6.4 toR6.8.
As already pointed out steel sleepers have recently
fallen into disfavour due to being light in weight and
thus unsuitable for long welded rails and to difficulty in
providing satisfactory insulation. Concrete sleepers, due
to their weight, are ideal for long welded rails but there
are nevertheless problems to be solved with them as well.
The wooden sleeper on the other hand still remains the
general all purpose sleeper.
Just exactly what type of sleeper will be ordered in
future is difficult to forecast and will undoubtedly vary
from time to time according to prevailing conditions.
THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South Africa June 1962
 Acknow ledgement REFERENCES

The Author wishes to thank the Railway Admini- I. GOLDSTEIN, A. and HAY, J. G. Modern European develop-
stration for permission to present this paper and to use ments in permanent way engineering. Trans. S. Afr. Instn.
the illustrations and diagrams included in it. Civ. Engrs. Vol. 3, No.7 (July, 1953).

The Author also wishes to thank the various firms
who have supplied sleepers and fastenings to the South
African Railways for giving him permission to include in
the paper brief descriptions of these sleepers and fasten-
ings.
2. DOLL, A. The concrete sleepers of the German Federal
Railways - Recent developments in design and manufac-
ture. Published in the English edition of the Railway
Technical Revue, (May, 1959). Publishers Carl Rohrig
(Darmstadt).

DISCUSSION
Written discussion on the above paper will be accepted until August 28,1962. This, together with the Author's Re-
ply, will be published in the December, 1962, issue of The Civil Engineer in South Africa, or later.
Such written discussion, which must be submitted in duplicate, should be in the third person present tense, and should
be typed in double spacing. It should be as short as possible and should not normally exceed 600 words in length. It
should also conform to the requirements laid down in the 'Notes for the Guidance of Authors and Contributors'
as published in the March, 1959, issue of The Civil Engineer in South Africa.

REFERENCE
Whenever reference is made to the above paper this publication should be referred to as the Transactions of the South
African Institution of Civil Engineers, and the volume and date given thus: Trans. S. Afr.lnstn.Civ. Engrs. 6 (June, 1962)

-------------------e-------------------

SO,rarn .agu
Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

Extracts from the Proceedings

From the Presidential Address of A. D. Tudhope

ASSENGERS. The cOInfortable fittings in the ERONAUTICS have received a little fillip in this
P S.A.R. passenger coaches' are only obtained at
considerable cost in weight to be hauled, sOInetiInes
A country during past years, by the exhibition of
two or three different types of Ina chines Inaking
running considerably over 2t tons of dead load per successful as well as' unsuccessful flights at different
passenger carried as COIn pared to ! in England and altitudes, but aeroplanes can hardly be reckoned as
It in AInerica. I think it will be conceded that our filling the bill for general utility although they have,
passenger trains COIn pare favourably for ease and we hear, been of SOIne value in the war between
COInfort of the journey with those other and older Italy and Turkey.
railways.

I N connection with rights of way, land acquisition,

HE use of petrol for propulsion of AutoInobiles
T is be cOIning quite COInInon in South Africa both
on ordinary roads and on railways. On railways the
sInaller vehicles such as a Inotor trolley for inspection
purposes is quite as successful as on the road vehicles.
The consideration of oil fuel for propulsion of ships
appears to have given way to the suction gas engine
which has received special consideration during past
year.
etc., the (Railway)* Maintenance Engineer finds it
necessary to know not only the law in connection
therewith, but also the value of grazing crops, etc.,
and has also to keep his knowledge of architecture
froIn rusting, as he is called on to renew and extend
as well as Inaintain station buildings of various sizes,
quarters, schools and institute buildings, and occasion-
ally is able to express his taste in designing a new
special building for one or other of these purposes.
* Not in original

THE CIVIL ENGINEER in South' Africa - June 1962 113