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. A first end of the fastener is inserted into the bore of the retention member and a second end of the fastener biases the rear friction surface of the locking member into interlocking engagement with the front friction surface of the brace member to thereby inhibit lateral movement of the brace member with respect to the locking member.