Apparatus for delivering a pumpable material to a rail head

Apparatus for delivering a pumpable material to top surface of a head of a metal rail, said rail head having opposite side surfaces extending down from the top surface to respective undersurfaces of the rail head, said apparatus comprising:

• an applicator assembly comprising an applicator body having a plurality of orifices;
• a securing device for securing the applicator assembly to said rail;
• said applicator body being resiliently yieldable against the urging of a first spring mechanism to permit the applicator body to move from a raised position, in which said orifices are located adjacent the top surface of the rail head and open toward the top surface of the rail head for delivery of lubricant directly from the orifices to the top surface of the rail head, to a depressed position in the event the applicator body is contacted by a train wheel, the applicator body thereafter being adapted to return to said raised position;
• said applicator assembly and securing device being configured such that when the applicator assembly is secured to the rail and the applicator body is in its raised and depressed positions, a metal portion of the applicator body contacts one of the side surfaces of the rail head to form a metal-on-metal hard seal located below said orifices and extending lengthwise of the rail head along said one side surface for inhibiting leakage of said pumpable material from the top surface of the rail head;
• and
• said applicator assembly further comprising a second spring mechanism for urging the applicator body against said one side surface of the rail head to help maintain said hard seal as the applicator body moves between its raised and depressed positions.