Sweet Home Chicago….almost
Laying along the inactive former Missouri Pacific line to Pueblo, a pair if rails from a steel mill of the Midwest proudly display their branding and Dece... (more)

Progress is our middle name
No need to name this spring frog manufacturer as their name is cast onto the non-run... (more)

With bright orange colors of rust on the couplers, nice blue bearing end cap covers and a shiny black skin on the bodies, one can easily tell these tank cars were recently built (April 2012 to be ... (more)

Six degrees of Steelton
A hexad of rails from the famous Bethlehem Steel rail mill in Steelton lay in unison off the CSX mainline in Notasulga at the railroad’s spare parts area as ... (more)

Tee Rail
The iconic cross-sectional profile of a rail is composed of three sections: starting from top to bottom they are the head, the web and finally the base of the rail. These are... (more)

With the concept for this type of frog created in 1893, the spring rail frog has had numerous improvements to its design but the overall idea has remained the same; a continuous running surface fo... (more)

Rolling rails since 1901, the Japanese Yawata Works of Nippon Steel continues to manufacture rails to this day using the 1970’s French inspired “Universal Rolling” procedure which rolls the ... (more)

Patent Pending
Invented by George R. Burkhardt in 1940, the Torsion Resistant rail was created to improve upon torsional rigidity at the head of the rail thus giving greater resistanc... (more)

Southern Steel
With the opening of its rail mill at the Ensley, Alabama steel works in 1902, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company would start the production of rail for the f... (more)

Open Hearth
While other rail producers used the Bessemer Process to create the steel in their rails, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company would become one of the first rail mi... (more)

Controlled Cooling
With a defect clearly seen at the head of the rail due to the noticeable rust there, this weld had no chance in keeping the rail together as the low temperatures of ... (more)

Insulation Station
Numerous insulated rails await their installation somewhere along the tracks of the NS Atlanta South District, but until then they patiently sit alongside the mainl... (more)

Rails on the move
A half way loaded continues welded rail train (CWR) hustles along the S&NA South Subdivision after leaving more)

Main Line of Mid-America
Part of the original double track mainline from Jackson to Ponchatoula, Mississippi on the Illi... (more)

Tight-lock
A pair of long shank Type F couplers move past a blurring background as the wickedly fast Amtrak Auto Train r... (more)