This article relates to the connection bar used in railways. For the type of Greek pottery, see Fish plate. This article relates to the type of Greek pottery For the connection bar used in railways see Fishplate.

Fishplate on the Bluebell Railway. The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East Sussex and West Sussex, England.

In rail terminology, a fishplate or joint bar is a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track. 0-9 Note for 4-4-0 2-6-4T 0-4-4-0 etc See Whyte notation or UIC classification A B In rail transport modelling, a fishplate is often a small copper or nickel/silver plate that slips onto both rails to provide the functions of maintaining alignment and electrical continuity. Model railroading (US or Railway modelling (UK Australia and Canada is a Hobby in which Rail transport systems are modeled at a reduced scale Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Nickel (ˈnɪkəl is a metallic Chemical element with the symbol Ni and Atomic number 28 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen

History

The device was invented by William Bridges Adams in May 1842, because of his dissatisfaction with the scarf joints then in use. William Bridges Adams (1797 – July 23, 1872) was an Author, Inventor and Locomotive engineer. A scarf joint (also known as a scarph joint) is a method of joining two members end to end in Woodworking or Metalworking. it was first deployed on the Eastern Counties Railway in 1844. The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR was an English railway company which began operating on 20 June 1839 with a train service running from a temporary terminus He patented his invention in England, Ireland and Scotland but, supposedly by some underhand means, the patent shortly afterwards passed to James Samuel, the engineer of the ECR. James Samuel (1824 – 1874 was a railway engineer who was appointed engineer to the Eastern Counties Railway in 1846.

Electrical connection

Electrically bonded main line 6-bolt rail joint on a segment of 155lb rail.

When railway lines are equipped with track circuits, or where the line is electrified for electric traction, the electrical connection provided by fishplates is too poor and unreliable and has to be supplemented by bonding wire which is spot welded to the two rails either side of the joint. A track circuit is a simple electrical device used to detect the presence or absence of a Train on Rail tracks, used to inform signallers and control relevant signals

Alternatives

Even though fishplates strengthen the weak points represented by rail joints, improvements can still be made. For example, the joints can be welded together using the thermite process. Thermite is a Pyrotechnic composition of Aluminium powder and a metal oxide which produces an Aluminothermic reaction known as a

References

• Ellis, C. Hamilton (1958). Twenty Locomotive Men, Ian Allan Ltd, London.