US2269543A - Method and means for draining railroad ties - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 13, 1942. w. A. M'oBl-:RLY 2,269,543 METHOD AND MEANS FOR DRAINING RAILROAD TIES Filed-Dec. 2, 1940 Patented Jan. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS Fonl DRAINING RAILROAD 'rms William A. Moberly, Chicago, Ill.

Application December 2, 1940, Serial No. 368,152

s claims. y(c1. 23a-264) combined tie plate and tie structure in which means are provided for draining water from the area of the tie below the tie plate and for thereby maintaining the wood beneath the tie plate dry and hard.

Another purpose is the provision of a means and method for preventing water softening of the tie below the tie plate and for thereby retarding sinking of the tie plate into the tie.

Another purpose is the provision of a means and method for draining refrigerator car salt 'water or brine drippings from the depressions made by the tie plates, and for preventing the rusting of plates and spikes which would otherwise be caused by the standing of salt water or brine drippings in the tie plate depressions.

Another purpose is the provision of means for maintaining uniformity of tie plate level along the ties upon which rails are mounted.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing where- Fig. 1 is a plan view;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, including a portion of a rail;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3A is a similar section illustrating a variant form; and

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate variant drainage arrangements.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specication and drawing.

Referring to the drawing, I generally indicates any suitable tie structure, the top of which may or may not be dapped or surfaced at a plurality of spaced points, as at 2, to provide a uniform at surface for receiving pairs of tie plates for opposite rails of a track, one such tie plate being indicated at 3. In the drawing I have illustrated only a single tie plate on the tie, but it will be understood that the structure and the flat surface 2 are duplicated at each end of the tie, whereby the tie member carries a pair of tie plates 3, supported at uniform levels.

Each such tie plate has a central flat portion '4, adapted to receive the bottom flange of the rail 5, the rail being positioned or centered by one or two upwardly extending shoulders 6. l indicates apertures, herein shown as square, for

'receiving any suitable anchor bolts or spikes, or other securing means, which are effective to prevent mechanical wear by fixing the tie plate against lateral movement and preventing rubbing of the tie plate on the surface of the tie.

I illustrate, for example, spikes 8 in Fig. 2. It will be understood that any other suitable securing means may be employed.

9 indicates square apertures for receiving suitable securing means, for example spikes l0, shown in Fig. 2, for engaging the edges of the bottom flange of the rail 5 and for thereby holding the rail downwardly in position against the tie plate.

It will be understood that wet wood is softer than dry wood, and that, if water is allowed to gather about or beneath or on the tie plate, the tendency is to soften the wood and to permit the pounding of the rails in response to the passage of trains to cause a perceptible and sometimes an extreme penetration of the tie plate into the surface 2 of the tie I. In current pracytice, if the tie is treated for example with creosote, the controlling factor of the life of the tie is prevailingly not the factor of decay, but the factor of physical wear. It is important that the surfaces 2 of a sequence of ties be at the same level. 'Iies are replaced in general not simultaneously but by degrees. Thus, in a given length of track of any particular unit or number of ties, for example, say, a thousand, only a small number is replaced each year. It is, therefore, important that the old ties and the new ties maintain a uniform level of the surface 2, and that any extreme penetration of any particular tie plate or tie plates into the tie be prevented, since otherwise the level of the rail is aifected, and high spots andlow spots appear, which cause the necessity of leveling or tamping. The old ties,

of course, have been subjected to more moisture than the new, and if the moisture is not in some way carried off, the old ties tend to become softened, and the tie plates penetrate the old ties more rapidly than they do the fresh, hard, new ties, and an uneven alignment develops, with the above mentioned necessity for tamping, which involves, of course, additional labor.

As the tie plate pounds down into the tie, particularly where the tie is wet, it in effect excavates a container in the surface 2, as shown at AIl in Fig. 2, which is ideally adapted to contain water from rains or the like, and this water, unless carried off, softens the tie and accelerates further penetration of the plate 2 and provides an ever increasing container for Water.

`new ties and to old ties.

Another condition rectified by my invention is the rusting of tie plates and spikes by the brine or salt water which drips from refrigerator cars and collects in the pockets formed by tie plates and stands there until the water evaporates. The evaporating water leaves salt in the pockets, to form a continually increasing salt mixture, which attacks and eats away the steel tie plate and the holding down spikes. My invention provides means for carrying off this salt.

I provide a drainage system across the surface of the space 2. I illustrate, for example, in Fig. l a pair of gutters or channels I2, I3, the depth of which increases from their inner ends, as at I4, to their outer or discharge ends, as at I5, `as shown for example in Fig. 3. They also may increase in width, as shown in Fig. 1, which, incidentally, is obtained as a result of the movement of a cutter, for example a rotary cutter, along an axis generally parallel with the rail and inclined somewhat in relation Ito the plane surface 2.

It will be understood, of course, lthat the size, shape and number of the gutters I2, I3 may be AWidely varied. I illustrate, for example in Fig.

4, two such gutters at each side of the tie. Their .distance of penetration may also be, Varied, as

shown in Fig. 5, where the gutters I2, I3 practically meet at the center of the tie, as at I6.

In practice my method is applicable both to In dealing with new ties the gutters I2, I3, for example, may be cut by any suitable rotary cutter immediately after or even before the surface 2 is adzed or planed oif, and the new tie, with the gutters, can be laid in the usualmanner. When rail is being re-laid on old ties, any suitable adzing or cutting means may be employed for re-dressing or re-cutting the surface 2, and thereafter a cutter may be moved along one rail, which provides a longitudinal guidance, and the cutter may be moved along a slightly inclined path in order to cut a gutter which has some such slope as is shown in Fig. 3. The new rail is then laid on the treated half of the ties, `and after the old rail is removed from the other end of the ties the same practice is carried on, and as a result the old ties are modi- `lied in situ to conform to my invention, as above described and shown.

It will be realized that, whereas I have described and shown a practical and operative embodiment of my invention and the method for carrying it out, nevertheless many changes may be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of parts and in the details and steps of such method without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore wish my description and drawing to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative or diagrammatic, rather than as limiting me to my precise showing.

The importance of my device of course does not come into play until the tie plate has initially sunk into the tie. Prior to that time drainage presents no problem but when, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the plate has taken its initial set and penetrated slightly into the body of the tie, water then is dammed up by the walls of impression made by the plate in the tie and it is then that the necessity for drainage becomes .most acute. Under these circumstances the wa- `what I am primarily concerned with is the rapid removal or drainage of water from the space I refrigerator cars.

about or beneath the tie plate, I may provide for the water flow by a variety of means. I may, for example, as shown in Fig. 3A, cut away the edge of the clapped or surfaced portion 2 to prevent the formation of a water-retaining wall along the edges of such surface when the tie plate begins to sink in. This cutaway portion is indicated, for example, at 2a in Fig. 3A, and may be employed either with or without the drainage gutters or channels I2, I3, in order to permit the rapid escape of Water from beneath the tie plate.

The drainage gutters or channels I2, I3 are of great value in assisting in the removal of salt present in the salt water or brine dropped from Where my drainage gutters are employed rain tends to dissolve and carry away whatever salt has previously accumulated. This elimination of the salt prolongs the life and full holding strength of the spikes and the supporting strength of the tie plates.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

I provide means for preventing the softening of ties by the prolonged presence of water at the surface beneath the tie plate, and for thereby preventing an uneven sinking of tie plates. After a rain storm new ties drain better than old ties, and the period during which the tie is softened is consequently shorter. By providing drainage for all ties, new and old, this differentiation is greatly reduced, the life of the individual tie is greatly increased, and the necessity of leveling and tamping, with consequent labor cost. is greatly reduced.

I have illustrated the provision of gutters or drain channels I2, I3, and also the cutting away of the edge of the dapped portion of the tie 2, as at 2a, in order to drain out water from beneath the tie plate. Inspection of the ties indicates that the ties decay faster around and adjacent to the spikes. Hence the importance of drying as fast as possible the area beneath the tie plate `in order to prevent softening or decaying along drainage spaces underlying the tie plate and inclined downwardly and outwardly toward the `edges of the tie, the lower walls of said drainage spaces being out of contact with any part of the tie plate.

2. In combination, a tie and a tie plate, and means for securing the tie plate in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being generally plane, the surface of the tie upon which the tie plate rests being cut away to form one or more cpen drainage passages underlying the `plate and 'inclined downwardly and outwardly toward the edges of the tie. the lower walls of said ydrainage passageior passages being out of contact with any part of the tie plate.

3. In combination, a tie and a tie plate. Vand means for securing the tie plate` in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being .generally plane, the surface of the tie upon which the `tie plate rests being cut away to form one or more Vopen drainage passages underlying the plate and inclined downwardly and outwardly toward the edges of the tie, said passage or pas` sages being generally perpendicular to the side of the tie, the lower walls of said drainage passage or passages being out of contact with any part of the tie plate.

4. In combination, a tie and a tie plate, and means for securing the tie plate in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being generally plane, the surface of the tie upon which the tie plate rests being cut away to form one or more open drainage passages underlying the tie plate and extending outwardly toward the edge or edges of the tie, said passage or passages increasing in depth and in width progressively toward the edge of the tie plate, the lower walls of said drainage passage or passages being out of contact with any part of the tie plate.

5. In combination, a tie and a tie plate, and means for securing the tie plate in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being generally plane, the surface of the tie overlain by the tie plate having formed therein one or more drainage channels extending to the edge of tie plate and tie, the walls of said channels being spaced downwardly below the overlying surface of the tie plate and being out of contact with any portion of the tie plate.

6. In combination, a tie and a tie plate, and means for securing the tie plate in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being generally plane, the surface of the tie overlain by the tie plate having formed therein one or more drainage channels extending to the edge of the tie plate and tie, the walls of said channels being spaced downwardly below the overlying surface of the tie plate and being out of contact with any portion of the tie plate, said channels increasing in cross sectional area outwardly toward their discharge ends.

"1. The method of forming a drainage seat for a tie plate which includes cutting in the surface of the tie a plane surfaced seat, forming in said plane surfaced seat one or more drainage channels extending outwardly to the edge of the tie, and securing a plane bottomed tie plate upon the plane surfaced seat of the tie, with said tie plate overlying said drainage channel or channels, and the bottom surface of the tie plate out of contact with the walls of said channel or channels.

8. In combination, a tie and a tie plate, and means for securing the tie plate in relation to the tie, the bottom of the tie plate being generally plane, the surface of the tie upon which the tie plate rests being cut away to form an open drainage space underlying the tie plate and inclined downwardly and outwardly toward an edge of the tie, the portion of the tie defining the lower part of said drainage space being out of contact with any part of the tie plate.

WILLIAM A. MOBERLY.

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