Buffer stop

A buffer stop for use on a permanent track of a railway comprising a buffer structure including a pair of transversely spaced side walls each adapted to extend lengthwise of and adjacent to one rail of the permanent track and having spaced from the lowermost edge a plurality of slots mutually spaced along the length of the side wall, each slot of one side wall extending substantially parallel to the adjacent rail and being directly opposite to and of substantially the same length as a substantially identical slot in the other side wall, and a plurality of pairs of transversely spaced two-part clamps for detachably securing the side walls of the buffer structure to the rails of the permanent track at spaced positions along the lengths of the side walls, each two-part clamp of each pair comprising a pair of plates which are disposed on opposite sides of one side wall of the buffer structure and are adapted to be clamped in direct contact with opposite sides of the adjacent rail by at least one clamping bolt which passes through one of the mutually spaced slots in said wall, the slots engaged by the bolts of the two-part clamps of each pair of clamps being substantially identical in length and the slots engaged by the bolts of the two-part clamps of each pair of clamps, except a first and upstream pair of clamps at an upstream end of the buffer structure, being greater in length than the slots engaged by the bolts of the two-part clamps of an adjacent upstream pair of clamps;

• whereby, on impact of a train with the buffer stop, the side walls of the buffer structure will move a first predetermined distance with respect to the permanent track so that the upstream end walls of the slots engaged by the bolts of the two-part clamps of the pair of clamps at said upstream end of the buffer structure will abut said bolts to cause the side plates of said two-part clamps to slide with respect to the rails of the permanent track and to cause the energy of the train to be absorbed by frictional resistance between the relatively sliding contacting surfaces of the rails and side plates of the clamps, and the side walls of the buffer structure will move at least one further predetermined distance with respect to the permanent track, so that the upstream end walls of the slots engaged by the bolts of the two-part clamps of each succeeding pair of clamps will abut said bolts to cause the side plates on said succeeding pair of clamps to slide with respect to the rails of the permanent track and to cause further energy of the train to be absorbed by frictional resistance between the relatively moving contact surfaces of the rails and side plates of said succeeding pair of clamps in addition to that being absorbed by the frictional resistance between the relatively moving contacting surfaces of the rails and side plates of each preceding pairs of clamps.