Abstract: A rail brace assembly for bracing a rail with respect to a tie plate. The rail brace assembly includes a brace member, a locking member, a retention member and a spring clip fastener. The brace member has a top surface adapted to engage a head fishing surface of the rail, a bottom surface adapted to engage a base fishing surface of the rail, a front friction surface and an outwardly extending toe. The retention member is adapted to be attached to the tie plate and includes a bore adapted to receive a first end of the fastener and a recess adapted to receive the toe of the brace member to thereby prevent vertical movement of the brace member and the rail. The locking member has a front surface, a rear friction surface adapted to engage the front friction surface of the brace member, and a pair of spaced apart outwardly extending legs which straddle the retention member.

Abstract: A railcar retarder assembly for use in a railroad trackwork such as a railcar classification yard is provided with a fixed base plate, a vertically-oriented pivot shaft secured to the base plate, an elongated and curved cam member mounted on the pivot shaft, and a horizontally-oriented hydraulic subsystem piston element that induces reaction hydraulic damping forces which are transmitted horizontally to the wheel flanges of a passing railcar to thereby reduce the rolling velocity of the railcar.