Thursday, October 29, 2015

Prototype for everything - Insulating fishplates

 
Spotted at Tyseley works at the weekend, what appear to be insulating fishplate just like those produced in nylon by Peco.
 
Curious, I asked PW guru (well he knows more than me) Simon Paley what they were:
 
Yep, they are IRJ's, Insulated Rail Joints, those are new, but using the existing bolts, they are normal fishplates, but with a Polymer Coating, there's also a plastic plate between the two rails, much like the PECO insulated plates

On the ones in your pictures, they are on S&C so they are used in the same way we use them on a layout, there is electricity running through the rails and the IRJ creates a break between sections, although the 'Frog' is not switched.
 
So they really are insulated fishplates! I'm going to look for an uncoupling ramp now...

1 comment:

matt Scrutton said...

I used to install these and test them. Really early ones were wooden!