Railway Switches Intelligent Joints Between Rails

Introduction of Railway Switches

A railway switch is a basic setup that branches one track into two or more tracks, enabling locomotives and vehicles to transfer from one line to another. On the vast railway lines stretching for thousands of miles, switches act as precise mechanical joints, bearing the weight of train turns with their steel bodies. This track equipment, forged from special materials and refined through a century of technological advancements, is not only a core component of the railway transportation system but also a silent witness to industrial civilization.

The Material of Railway Switches

Material innovation has always driven the evolution of switches. The early combination of wooden rails and cast iron components proved inadequate under the heavy pressure of steam locomotives. In 1893, a German engineer created all-steel switches using high-strength steel rails with a manganese content of 12%, which had five times the wear resistance of traditional materials, marking the entry of railways into the steel rail era. Modern switches’ point rails are made from bainitic steel through integral forging. This material, obtained through special heat treatment, features a microscopic structure of feather-like crystal arrangement, maintaining high hardness while also being resilient, capable of withstanding a wheel-rail impact of 8 tons per square centimeter. The switch blades are cast from high-chromium alloy steel, with a surface hardness of HRC58, equivalent to the wear resistance of diamond, ensuring geometric accuracy even after a million passes.

Special materials endow switches with strong environmental adaptability. In the railway crossing the Siberian permafrost zone, switches are cast from cold-resistant steel containing 9% nickel, maintaining elastic modulus at -60°C. In the tropical section of the China-Laos Railway, the switch surfaces are coated with nano-ceramic layers, which can resist 98% air humidity erosion and reduce wheel-rail friction by 30%. Even more advanced magnetic levitation switch prototypes use titanium alloy skeletons and carbon fiber composite materials, completely discarding traditional mechanical structures and achieving contactless track switching through electromagnetic fields, extending the maintenance cycle from 45 days to 10 years.
 

The Design Of Railway Switches

From material formulas to functional designs, switches embody interdisciplinary wisdom. The 60-degree golden angle of the switch blades is derived from precise calculations in wheel-rail dynamics; the 35:1 slope ratio on the top surface of the point rails is the result of three generations of engineers’ practical experience; even the 14-millimeter gap between the guard rail and the basic rail is strictly set according to the standard dimensions of the wheel flange. In the Moscow Railway Museum, material specimens from wooden switches to digital switches clearly outline the symbiotic trajectory of metallurgical technology and mechanical engineering over two centuries.
 

The Function Of Railway Switches

The core functions of switches are reflected in three dimensions. As the diversion hubs of the track network, basic single switches can complete track switching within 3 seconds, increasing the capacity of single-track railways by 40%. In the Zhengzhou EMU Depot, a super-large number switch measuring 1,572 meters uses precisely machined wing rails and heart rails to form a three-dimensional intersection, seamlessly connecting eight tracks, allowing 300 EMU trains to pass through in an orderly manner every day and night. To meet the strict requirements of high-speed railways, the movable heart rail switch eliminates the “track break point” of traditional structures, allowing trains traveling at 350 km/h to pass through with almost no vibration – this is due to the 0.1-millimeter precision fit between the heart rail and the wing rail, equivalent to the diameter difference of two human hair strands.

Material	cold-resistant: cast steel containing 9% nickel, maintaining elastic modulus at -60°C
	tropical section:the surfaces are coated with nano-ceramic layers, which can resist 98% air humidity erosion and reduce wheel-rail friction by 30%.
	advanced magnetic levitation:titanium alloy skeletons and carbon fiber composite materials
Design	60-degree golden angle
	the 35:1 slope ratio on the top surface of the point rails
Type	single switch:The single switch has main line and side line, and the switch is opened by moving the switch.
	Symmetrical switch: The whole switch is symmetrical in the middle line of the main line or the middle branch line of the fork Angle, and there is no straight and lateral division when the train passes.
	Double crossing switches: Double crossing switches are equivalent to two sets of single open switches laid in opposite directions to achieve the cross of non-parallel stock tracks
	Three-open switches: also known as compound cross-side symmetrical switch, is a more common form of compound switch. It is equivalent to two sets of single-open switches with different side connections. However, its length is much shorter than the sum of the lengths of the two sets of single turnout.

Company Profile

Luoyang Fenyo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. was founded in 1998, covers an area of 72,600㎡, with more than 300 employees, 32 technicians, including 5 senior engineers, 11 assistant engineers, and 16 technicians. It has been rated as Luoyang Engineering Technology Center, Luoyang Technology R&D Center, and National High-tech Enterprise for many times.
Our production capacity is 30,000 tons per year. Currently, we mainly produce cast steel, cast iron (gray iron, ductile iron, etc.), processing of finished product and component assembly.the products have been exported to Russia, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Japan, France, South Africa,Italy and other countries.

FAQS

Q1: Are you a manufacturer or trading company?
A:Yes,our company was founded in 1998, with nearly 30 years in casting industry, a total area of 72,600㎡, with a factory building area of 51,000㎡.
Q2. What are your main products?
A: We primarily focus on steel casting, iron casting, finished product machining, and component assembly production.
Q3: How precision can you produce casting parts?
A: We have the capability of producing casting parts with different casting processes. The production is strictly comply with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO45001,EN15085, IRIS.
Q4. Can you produce according to the samples?
 Yes, we can produce by your samples or technical drawings. We can build drawings for you after we get your samples too.
Q5: How do you do Quality Control before delivery?
A: Quality inspection is a very important factor to guarantee the quality of steel casting parts. We follow 3 times of inspection during the whole production process. And we will provide material testing report, dimensional testing report, and mechanical properties testing report to our clients before delivery.

It you are interested in any products,please feel free to contact us.
Contact:Cathy Xu
Email:sales@railwaypart.com
Mobile:008615515321683