RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION 
325 
Fish plates, sometimes called "straps," are plain bars of steel 
bolted to the rail in the same manner as the angle bars, but 
usually with not more than two bolts per rail head (Fig. 108fe). 
They are especially adapted to spur track use because they can 
be put on quicker than angle bars and are equally serviceable for 
light traffic. Standard requirements call for 357 joints per mile. 
Spikes. — Rails are fastened to the crossties by square spikes 
which vary in length and size with the weight of rail. Four 
spikes are driven to each tie, one on each side of each rail. 
ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF MATERIAL REQUIRED FOR ONE 
MILE OF TRACK FOR RAILS OF A GIVEN WEIGHT 
Weight of rails 
per yard 
Number of tons 
of 2240 pounds . 
Pounds of spikes . 
Number of angle 
bars 
Number of cross- 
ties 
Pounds of bolts 
and nuts 
16 
20 
25 
30 
35 
40 
45 
55 
60 
251 
1689 
31tt 
1689 
39f 
2708 
471 
2708 
55 
2708 
62| 
4182 
701 
4182 
86^ 
5867 
94i 
5867 
357 
357 
357 
357 
357 
357 
357 
357 
357 
3520 
3520 
3520 
3520 
3017 
2640 
2640 
2640 
2640 
546 
582 
582 
610 
610 
1073 
1073 
1146 
1169 
65 
102i 
5867 
357 
2348 
1169 
Turnouts. — The device used to connect two given sets of 
track is known as a turnout. It has three separate parts known 
as the switch, the frog and the guard rails. 
(1) The switch is the movable part of the turnout and is 
the point at which the two divergent tracks meet. There are 
two kinds in use by loggers; (a) the stub-switch in which both 
main-line rails are cut (Fig. 109), and (b) the split switch in which 
but one main-line rail is cut (Fig. 109). The latter is preferred 
because of its greater safety. 
(2) Frogs provide the means by which the flanges of the wheels 
can cross the rail of the track when the train is entering or leaving 
a switch (Fig. 109c). Frogs are built ready for use in the track 
and are made for various degrees of curvature, each size being 
designated by a number Those in most common use on stand- 
ard-gauge logging roads are No. 6 (9° 32'), No. 8 (7° 09') and 
No. 10 (5^ 43'). The number of a given frog can be determined 
by dividing the length of frog by the width of the frog heel, 
the quotient being the frog number. 
(3) Both on the main line and the spurs, guard rails, from 10 
