----- Original Message ----- From: ggill64 Great resource, Tom. I spotted rail anchors in the Accessories section -- check out page 4-12. It doesn't really show what their purpose is, so that would be good to know if someone has that info. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Rail anchors are also known as anticreepers - they serve to keep the rail from moving longitudinally (in a direction perpendicular to the ties). http://ad5zo.com/blacksmithing/bs_railanchor.htm
Apparently this in important everywhere, since one sees them along nearly all mainline tracks. Variations in temperature make them especially important along continuous welded rail track - to prevent, or at least reduce the occurrences of sun kinks. And even without the effects of very hot & very cold weather, it has been noted for a long time that rail creep can happen under the force of trains accelerating & decelerating. Repeated braking for a station and accelerating away from a station will put force on the rail to make it move. There was an interchange track between the NYC & AA tracks in Ann Arbor MI, just above the dam. It had a steep grade. They say (could be an urban myth) a locomotive struggling up that grade once shot a length of rail out from under it. Tom Hawley -- Lansing Mich
