Why are there indents that looks like cracks at Some Railjoints? Or are they Cracks?

Just editted the title, why are these there? I cant tell if they are there on purpose, i think they are, this is at Tamworth Station

Hello @Tobytrain10 - do you mean the thin gap each side, above the bolted fishplate?

If so, that's jointed track - the normal way to join adjacent rails (often of standard rail length, such as 60 feet).
It was the standard way of connecting all track, until the advent of Continous-Welded Rail (CWR).

It’s a cast in cable management groove for track circuit wiring, I think it came up in a discussion years ago.
Some other designs just had a groove down the centre of the sleeper.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Yesterday at 18:34 ==

Sun Chariot said:

Hello @Tobytrain10 - do you mean the thin gap each side, above the bolted fishplate?

If so, that's jointed track - the normal way to join adjacent rails (often of standard rail length, such as 60 feet). It was the normal way of connecting track, until the advent of Continous-Welded Rail (CWR).

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I think he means the manufactured grooves in the second sleeper either side of the joint. They're also in the third sleepers but mostly full of ballast. I think the joint is an insulated block joint.

swt_passenger said:

I think he means the manufactured grooves in the second sleeper either side of the joint. I think it’s an insulated block joint.

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Yeah this is what i mean i think, i know what railjoints are, i normally try to find them at stations i go to so i can get a good video of trains going over them

Thanks both - it serves me right for trying to look at post 1's photo whilst simultaneously running with our 40kg German Shepherd.

It’s a bit of a messy look imo. Much prefer the G55 sleeper with the centralised groove running through.

Skeletor said:

It’s a bit of a messy look imo. Much prefer the G55 sleeper with the centralised groove running through.

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1. The joint are not ordinary rail joints they are Insulated Block Joints (IBJs) at the end of track circuit sections for signalling, thus sometimes (at a minimum of 1 end of the section) requiring cables to be attached to the rails.
2. These sleepers are designed for use with Insulated Block Joints (IBJs) in non-3rd rail areas (where there would be a massive impedance bond instead) to allow at cable to be attached to the inside of the closest rail in this case and be slightly protected . G55s with central grooves are designed for general cable runs often across the track with nothing attached on the inside of the rails a newer and slightly different purpose.