- Barlow rail
Barlow rail was a kind of rail used on early railways. It has a top-hat or saddle-back kind of cross-section. [ [http://www.polybiblio.com/elton/5693.html Barlow's description of the rail] ]
Advantages
One of its supposed advantages is that it could be laid on the ballast without sleepers.
Disadvantages
In practice, the lack of sleepers made it difficult to keep the gauge. The rail also had a tendency to tip over.
Inventor
It was invented in 1849 by W.H.Barlow, engineer of the
Midland Railway . The design was patented (12438 of 1849) [ [http://www.britsattheirbest.com/ingenious/ii_19th_century_1855.htm Brits at Their Best science timeline] ]On 14 May 1850, he presented a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London detailing his ideas"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] and claiming that a test section of 125lb/yd 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 Middlesbro-on-Tees.
Usage
* Great Western's South Wales line from Swansea to Carmanthen - 1852 Extended towards Milford Haven in 1854
*New South Wales Railways - 1855 -Sydney toParramatta [cite book
last = Gunn
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Along Parallel Lines: A History of the Railways of New South Wales
publisher = Melbourne University Press
date = 1989
location = Melbourne
pages = p62
url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=gEXRJBBpB2MC&printsec=frontcover
doi =
id =
isbn = 0522843875]*
Powerhouse Museum ,Sydney Secondary usage
The unsuccessful Barlow rail found a secondary use as fence posts, and in the construction of bridges, etc.
*
South Devon Railway - underbridge [ [http://www.southdevonrailway.org/News-and-Press-Releases/Bridge4m7c.html South Devon Railway bridge replacemenr] ]
*Conwy Valley Line - underbridge [ [http://www.penmorfa.com/Conwy/eight.htm The Conwy valley line - Cwm Prysor to Bala Junction ] ]
*Shipton on Cherwell Halt - fencepost [ [http://disused-rlys.fotopic.net/c606321.html Great Western Railway - Kidlington TO Blenheim & Woodstock] ]
*Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum [ [http://www.dsrm.org.au/collection_files/sheet009.htm List of other exhibits] ]
*Fairford branch - structures [ [http://www.martin.loader.btinternet.co.uk/Lechlade.htm Lechlade station description] ]See also
*
Rail tracks References
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