Special trackwork voestalpine Nortrak Inc.‘s new CLICKTITE rail brace utilizes a tapered wedge for clamping, which the company says results in 50-percent more resistance to rail roll-out companred to rail braces that use an e-clip.
probably behind us,” said Ouelette. In order to increase transactional efficiency for customers, voestalpine Nortrak is introducing an e-commerce store with a selection of trackwork products to allow customers to browse and directly order from their computer or mobile device. voestalpine Nortrak is also recently certified to AAR M-1003 at each of its eight manufacturing plants. The certification covers special trackwork, concrete ties, manganese frog castings, ductile iron castings and plastic components.
Vossloh North America
and the running rails and castings of a high-angle crossing diamond have reduced the peak impact forces in the crossing and resulted in a service life of nearly 100 mgt without surfacing. TTCI is currently working with railroads to demonstrate some of these technologies in revenue.
voestalpine Nortrak Inc.
This year, voestalpine Nortrak Inc. introduced two new products: CLICKTITE rail brace and SAFEGUARD fastening systems for guard rails. The CLICKTITE rail brace uses a tapered wedge for clamping, the company says this compares to many other rail braces on the market that rely solely on the toe load of an e-clip to hold the rail in the seat. “The use of a tapered wedge on the CLICKTITE brace results in about 50 percent more resistance to rail roll-out, compared rail braces that use an e-clip,” said Vice President of Marketing Ken Ouelette. “Rail roll-out can be a major cause of delay during the installation of panels, when the torque applied to the brace can exceed 10,000 ft-lbs.” Ouelette says that the SAFEGUARD fastening system was designed to reduce the risk of injury to installation crews by eliminating the need to swing a hammer at a clip in the confined space adjacent to the guard rail. The system is based on a simple fastener that can be lifted onto a seat with a pry bar while still providing a toe load equivalent to existing clip-based designs. “Although Class 1 capital budgets are down a little over 10 percent from last year, our analysis of industry indicators suggest that the worst of the downturn is 28 Railway Track & Structures
July 2017
As a part of the Vossloh North America rail infrastructure group, Cleveland Track Material, Inc., offers a variety of proprietar y brace plate systems for turnouts and crossings. Soon, Vossloh says, it will introduce a brace plate system designed for the Vossloh Skl tension clamp called the V-RAM. The V-RAM, like other proprietary Vossloh universal brace plate systems, is compatible for rail sections ranging from 112RE – 141RE. Vossloh North America Marketing Manager Dan Whiteley says this is especially useful in track settings with multiple rail profiles. “This is possible through the proprietary Vossloh Universal Master Brace Plate, for which Cleveland Track Material has designed the brace and wedge components to be reversible so that they can be configured depending on the height of rail web,” said Whiteley. The V-RAM design features a centrally positioned, threaded post over which the brace and Skl tension clamp are inserted. The clamp loading is applied directly to the front and back of the brace, securing the brace laterally against the stock rail and down against the rail flange and plate. Whiteley explains this design allows the clamp itself to be positioned closer to the rail and above the rail’s neutral axis to increase holding power and maximize the clamping force of the tension clamp. “The V-RAM system has been tested at our flagship rail fastening R&D facility in Werdohl Germany and performed well alongside other brace systems,” said Whiteley. “At Railway Interchange 2017 we will display a switch layout composed entirely of Vossloh products, including the V-RAM universal brace plate system.”
Vossloh North America plans to showcase a switch layout at Railway Interchange composed entirely of Vossloh products, including the company’s newest addition, the V-RAM universal brace plate system. www.rtands.com