Rail Anchors: Mechanical Stability Solutions for Track Safety | Heavy-Load, Urban & Mountain Rail Applications

Overview of Rail Anchors

Rail anchors are key components in railway track systems that prevent rails from creeping or shifting due to longitudinal forces (such as traction and braking force) generated by train operation. They firmly connect rails to sleepers through mechanical locking or friction enhancement mechanisms to ensure the geometric stability of the track system and driving safety. The products are widely used in ordinary railways, heavy-load freight lines, urban rail transit, and high-slope, frequent braking sections, and are indispensable passive safety devices in railway infrastructure.

Working Principle of Rail Anchors

Mechanical locking mechanism
The railroad anchor fixes the rail and the railway sleepers tightly with fish bolt or pins, and uses the rigid contact between the rail clip baffle and the bottom edge of the rail to directly offset the longitudinal force generated by the train operation and prevent the rail from sliding along the sleeper（steel sleepers / wooden sleepers）.

Friction enhancement design
The contact surface between the rail clip and the rail is made of high friction coefficient material or corrugated surface treatment to increase friction resistance, and pre-pressure is applied by tightening bolts to further improve the anti-climbing performance.
Structural synergy
Some models are equipped with rail anchor supports (connecting rods) to connect multiple sleepers in series into an overall force-bearing frame, dispersing the longitudinal force to a wider area to avoid local stress concentration.

Technical Specifications of Rail Clamp

Model	Applicable rail type	Material	Anti-climbing resistance (tons)	Single set weight (kg)	Bolt specifications
CF-50 (pin-through type)	50kg/m	QT500-7 ductile iron	2.8	4.2	M24×160 (8.8 grade)
KC-60 (cassette type)	60kg/m	Q345B low alloy steel	4.5	6.5	M30×200 (grade 10.9)
HJ-43 (welded)	43kg/m	Q235B carbon steel	3.2	3.2	Welding fixation (embedded sleeper parts required)

Features of railroad anchor

High-strength anti-climbing performance
The anti-climbing resistance design meets the railway standards of many countries. The typical model anti-climbing resistance is ≥2.5 tons (pin-through type) to 4.5 tons (card-through type).
Made of high-strength alloy steel (such as Q345B) or high-quality cast iron, with a tensile strength of ≥400MPa, excellent cold bending performance, and adaptable to extreme climatic conditions.

Structural reliability and durability

Pin-through type rail anchors: adopts an integral forging process, with an integrated design of the pin and the rail card, no welding defects, and a service life of more than 15 years.
Card-through type rail anchors: The bolt fastening structure supports multiple disassembly and assembly, convenient maintenance, and the surface of key components is hot-dip galvanized, and the anti-corrosion performance reaches ISO 9227 standard C5 level.

Versatility and compatibility
Adapt to mainstream rail models (such as 50kg/m, 60kg/m, 43kg/m), compatible with wooden sleepers and concrete sleepers, and supports the reconstruction of new and old lines.
The modular design allows seamless integration with the existing rail fastener system without additional adjustment of the sleeper spacing or rail height.
Installation and maintenance advantages

The installation time of a single set is ≤20 minutes, and only common tools (wrench, torque wrench) are required, which reduces labor costs.

Core functions of railroad anchor

Stable track geometry
Effectively suppress rail creep, reduce rail gap expansion, sleeper skew and ballast bed settlement, maintain track smoothness, and reduce wheel-rail dynamic forces.
Driving safety guarantee
Avoid switch conversion failures, fish bolt breakage, gauge expansion and other safety hazards caused by track creep, and improve line capacity and operating efficiency.
Full life cycle cost optimization
Reduce the frequency of track maintenance, reduce manual inspection and component replacement costs.
Extend the service life of rails, sleepers and ballast beds, and reduce the overall cost by 20%-30% compared with traditional solutions.

Application scenarios of rail anchor

Heavy-load freight railways
Prevent serious track creep caused by frequent braking of heavy-load trains on high-load lines such as coal transportation lines and ore transportation lines.
Urban rail transit
Metro and light rail lines’ entry braking areas, long and long ramps, and small-radius curves ensure driving stability and passenger comfort.
Mountain railways
Enhance the track’s ability to resist longitudinal forces and reduce the impact of geological disasters (such as landslides) on the track on high-slope, multi-curve lines.
Industrial railways
Dedicated lines for enterprises such as ports, mines, and steel mills to adapt to complex working conditions and heavy-load transportation needs.

Package of rail anchor

Polybag+Carton box+Wooden case/Pallet, according to customer’s request

Company Profile

Luoyang Fonyo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. was founded in 1998, covers an area of 72,600㎡, with more than 300 employees, 32 technicians, including 5 senior engineers, 11 assistant engineers, and 16 technicians. It has been rated as Luoyang Engineering Technology Center, Luoyang Technology R&D Center, and National High-tech Enterprise for many times.
Our production capacity is 30,000 tons per year. Currently, we mainly produce cast steel, cast iron (gray iron, ductile iron, etc.), processing of finished product and component assembly for locomotive,railcar,high-speed trains, mining equipment,wind power,etc.Our products have been exported to Russia, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Japan, France, South Africa,Italy and other countries.

FAQS

Q1: Are you a manufacturer or trading company?
A: We are a manufacturer. Our company was founded in 1998, with nearly 30 years in casting industry, a total area of 72,600㎡, with a factory building area of 51,000㎡.
Q2. What are your main products?
A: We primarily focus on steel casting, iron casting, finished product machining, and component assembly production for locomotive, railcar, high-speed trains, mining equipment, wind power,etc.
Q3: How precision can you produce casting parts?
A: We have the capability of producing casting parts with different casting processes. The production is strictly comply with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO45001,EN15085, IRIS.
Q4. Can you produce according to the samples?
 Yes, we can produce by your samples or technical drawings. We can build drawings for you after we get your samples too.
Q5: How do you do Quality Control before delivery?
A: Quality inspection is a very important factor to guarantee the quality of steel casting parts. We follow 3 times of inspection during the whole production process. And we will provide material testing report, dimensional testing report, and mechanical properties testing report to our clients before delivery.

It you are interested in any products,please feel free to contact us.
Contact: Stella Liu
Email:sales@railwaypart.com
Mobile:+8615515351287