Sandite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sandite is a substance used on railways in the United Kingdom to deal with the issue of leaves on the line, which can cause trains to slip and become damaged. It consists of a mixture of sand, aluminium and a unique type of adhesive.

Leaf build up on the railhead can also cause signalling issues and disappearing trains on the rail control systems.

It is usually applied by a special train which first clears fallen leaves from the rails, then sprays the sandite on. Units used for this have included:

• British Rail Class 937
• British Rail Class 936
• British Rail Class 951
• British Rail Class 960
• some loco-hauled stock

[edit] See also

• Sandbox (railways)
• Slippery rail