be used such as a cone section pyramid cube or parallelepiped the base of the lower portion is substantially greater in diameter or area than the width or area of the upper portion as best shown in fig2 the lower portion 14 presents a downwardly facing surface that tends to entrap rather than displace the ballast under vertical downward loadings while at the same time providing excellent lateral restraint in addition the lower portion presents an upwardly facing surface that is capable of preventing uplifting of the collar the top wall 18 of the upper portion 12 includes a pair of spaced flanges 30 defining a longitudinal channel for receiving the base flange 31 of a railway rail 32 a plurality of openings 34 are also provided in longitudinal alignment with the flanges for receiving conventional spikes 36 which are driven through the openings and into the tie 24 such that the heads of the spikes overlap the rail flange 31 and retain the rail in position the spikes 36 thus serve to retain the rail 32 in position and also serve to secure the tie 24 relative to the collar 10 providing a means for securing the tie and collar in a fixed horizontal position while allowing the tie and collar to move relative to each other in a vertical direction when upward forces occur the rail is free to move in the flanges and away from the upper surface of the tie collar by virtue of the spiking and the vertical clearance between the tie and the tie receiver thus relieving the vertical stress and allowing the tie collar unit to remain fixed in the ballast this fastening arrangement provides sufficient horizontal gauging constraints to the track structure obviously separate means could be employed to secure the rail.