The paper presents the results of experimental investigations into variations of the stress tensor components due to both the interaction between subsurface fatigue crack faces and rolling contact. The load assumed represents real interaction between the railway wheel and rail. The Grating Holographic Interferometry (GHI) method was employed. The results obtained were compared with those resulting from numerical simulations performed using FEM. The results reveal a strong influence exerted by shape, crack thickness distribution and roughness of the crack faces, respectively, on the distribution of displacement and stress tensor component fields. A new concept consisting in application of the effective crack thickness was proposed. The best agreement between experimental and numerical results was achieved in the case when the real crack shape, effective crack thickness and the friction coefficient of 0.3 were assumed.