Barlow rail was a rolled rail section used on early railways. It has wide flaring feet and was designed to be laid direct on the ballast, without requiring sleepers. It was widely adopted on lightly trafficked railways, but was ultimately unsuccessful because of maintenance difficulties.
It resembles the bridge rail used for Brunel's baulk road, but was of tapering form, rather than with the flat base of the heavier bridge rail intended for laying onto timber.
A sample of Barlow rail is shown to the rear of a sample of Bullhead rail
In the mid-nineteenth century, railway networks were expanding into areas where lighter traffic was expected. The first cost of conventional railway track was considerable, and cheaper alternatives were sought. The Barlow rail offered this benefit, by avoiding the cost of sleepers and chairs altogether. Laid directly in the ballast, it required no other ancillary equipment; however the rail itself was significantly heavier and more expensive than conventional rails.
In practice it had several disadvantages; in particular there was no gauge tie, so that if the ballast was poorly consolidated, the rails could gradually move independently, resulting in a serious derailment risk. Some modifications involved the provision of tie bars between opposing rails to maintain the gauge.
The wider and heavier rail section was considerably stiffer to lateral bending, and this made smooth alignment in curves difficult, especially at the joints.
On curves, passing vehicle wheels generate a crabbing effect, tending to push the rails apart, and in the absence of sleepers this tended to rotate the rails outward, that is, they tended to tip outwards.
Inventoredit
The rail profile was invented in 1849 by W.H.Barlow, engineer of the Midland Railway. The design was patented (12438 of 1849) [1]
On 14 May 1850, he presented a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London detailing his ideas[2] and stating that a test section of 125 lb/yd [62 kg/m] rail on the Midland Junction Railway had proven satisfactory.
He admitted that there had been difficulty in rolling the section but this had been overcome by the manufacturers at Middlesbrough.
Applicationedit
The rail section was adopted by Brunel for the South Wales Railway[3]
Barlow rail was widely withdrawn from primary service as rails and so large quantities of it were available cheaply. The South Wales Railway offered 400 tons of it for sale in 1857, with free delivery to anywhere along their line.[6]
The large extent of Barlow rail laid in the routes influenced by Brunel, and in New South Wales, has left a legacy of fence posts, and in some cases bridge decks:
^Coombes, Nigel (1995). Striding boldly: The story of Clevedon pier. Clevedon Pier Trust Ltd. p. 14. ISBN978-0952521600.
April 10, 2024
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Barlow rail was a rolled rail section used on early railways It has wide flaring feet and was designed to be laid direct on the ballast without requiring sleepers It was widely adopted on lightly trafficked railways but was ultimately unsuccessful because of maintenance difficulties Cross section of Barlow rail as used by Sydney Railway CompanyIt resembles the bridge rail used for Brunel s baulk road but was of tapering form rather than with the flat base of the heavier bridge rail intended for laying onto timber Contents 1 Usage 2 Inventor 3 Application 4 Secondary usage 5 See also 6 ReferencesUsage edit nbsp A sample of Barlow rail is shown to the rear of a sample of Bullhead railIn the mid nineteenth century railway networks were expanding into areas where lighter traffic was expected The first cost of conventional railway track was considerable and cheaper alternatives were sought The Barlow rail offered this benefit by avoiding the cost of sleepers and chairs altogether Laid directly in the ballast it required no other ancillary equipment however the rail itself was significantly heavier and more expensive than conventional rails In practice it had several disadvantages in particular there was no gauge tie so that if the ballast was poorly consolidated the rails could gradually move independently resulting in a serious derailment risk Some modifications involved the provision of tie bars between opposing rails to maintain the gauge The wider and heavier rail section was considerably stiffer to lateral bending and this made smooth alignment in curves difficult especially at the joints On curves passing vehicle wheels generate a crabbing effect tending to push the rails apart and in the absence of sleepers this tended to rotate the rails outward that is they tended to tip outwards Inventor editThe rail profile was invented in 1849 by W H Barlow engineer of the Midland Railway The design was patented 12438 of 1849 1 On 14 May 1850 he presented a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London detailing his ideas 2 and stating that a test section of 125 lb yd 62 kg m rail on the Midland Junction Railway had proven satisfactory He admitted that there had been difficulty in rolling the section but this had been overcome by the manufacturers at Middlesbrough Application editThe rail section was adopted by Brunel for the South Wales Railway 3 The South Wales Railway from Swansea to Carmarthen 1852 Extended towards Milford Haven in 1854 2 New South Wales Railways 1855 Sydney to Parramatta 4 Some pieces of this rail are on display at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney with Locomotive No 1 Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company 1855 one order of 300 tons used in tracks near Geelong Victoria 5 Didcot Railway Centre OxfordshireSecondary usage editBarlow rail was widely withdrawn from primary service as rails and so large quantities of it were available cheaply The South Wales Railway offered 400 tons of it for sale in 1857 with free delivery to anywhere along their line 6 The large extent of Barlow rail laid in the routes influenced by Brunel and in New South Wales has left a legacy of fence posts and in some cases bridge decks South Devon Railway underbridge 7 Conwy Valley Line underbridge 8 Shipton on Cherwell Halt fencepost 9 Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum 10 Fairford branch structures 11 Clevedon Pier was constructed from second hand Barlow rail 12 Loughor railway viaduct was rebuilt in 1880 and the new decking was constructed of Barlow rail laid crosswise 6 See also editRail profile Rail tracksReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barlow rail Brits at Their Best science timeline a b Engineers of the Sydney Railway Company Part 1 The Selection of the Rail Type The Barlow Rail Hagarty Don Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin February 1991 pp43 47 McDermot E T History of the Great Western Railway 1927 published by the Great Western Railway Gunn John 1989 Along Parallel Lines A History of the Railways of New South Wales Melbourne Melbourne University Press p 62 ISBN 0 522 84387 5 Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer Wednesday 5 July 1854 page 4 a b Jones Stephen K 2006 Brunel in South Wales Vol II Communications and Coal Tempus p 159 ISBN 0 7524 3918 9 South Devon Railway bridge replacemenr Archived from the original on 2006 08 19 Retrieved 2008 05 18 The Conwy valley line Cwm Prysor to Bala Junction Great Western Railway Kidlington TO Blenheim amp Woodstock permanent dead link List of other exhibits Lechlade station description Coombes Nigel 1995 Striding boldly The story of Clevedon pier Clevedon Pier Trust Ltd p 14 ISBN 978 0952521600 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Barlow rail amp oldid 1041827413, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
