Barlow rail

It has wide flaring feet and was designed to be laid direct on the ballast, without requiring sleepers.

In practice it had several disadvantages; in particular there was no gauge tie, so that if the ballast was poorly consolidated, the rails could gradually move independently, resulting in a serious derailment risk.

The wider and heavier rail section was considerably stiffer to lateral bending, and this made smooth alignment in curves difficult, especially at the joints.

The design was patented (12438 of 1849) [1] On 14 May 1850, he presented a paper to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London detailing his ideas[2] and stating that a test section of 125 lb/yd [62 kg/m] rail on the Midland Junction Railway had proven satisfactory.

[6] The large extent of Barlow rail laid in the routes influenced by Brunel, and in New South Wales, has left a legacy of fence posts, and in some cases bridge decks: