NS's source for Welded rail/Do they use Steelton rail?

D300 · September 30, 2011, 01:41:14 PM

I pass by the Steelton rail plant in Steelton, Pa. fairly regularly. Despite NS is the connections (via a steel mill road) I have never seen any NS cars loading rail. Most have SPSX reporting marks. I know CP occasional loads rail at this facility.

2 questions: 1. anyone know where NS gets its rail currently? 2. And has anyone noticed any recent installation of Steelton rail?

D300

steveiez · October 01, 2011, 03:07:25 PM

I would bet they use Steelton for rail. There are only about two or three US producers of rail left. I know US Steel, RG Steel, Serverstal and Mittal do not make it. The other one I know of is CFI in Pueblo Springs Colo;that is if they are still around.

Michael Knight · October 01, 2011, 05:55:52 PM

Quote from: D300 on September 30, 2011, 01:41:14 PM
I pass by the Steelton rail plant in Steelton, Pa. fairly regularly. Despite NS is the connections (via a steel mill road) I have never seen any NS cars loading rail. Most have SPSX reporting marks. I know CP occasional loads rail at this facility.

2 questions: 1. anyone know where NS gets its rail currently? 2. And has anyone noticed any recent installation of Steelton rail?

D300

NS was getting some Japenese steel not too long ago although I'm not sure if it still sources some US-produced rail too. Whatever is cheapest is what NS will buy, especially in its current era of deferred capital spending to maximize EPS.

ARandall70 · October 02, 2011, 11:06:59 PM

Japanese stick rail comes in at the Port of Morehead City, North Carolina, and is forwarded to where ever NS welds its rail together(Off the top of my head, I wanna say its near Atlanta. Anyone know for sure?)

It travels in unit trains of old N&W green and SOU orange rail flat cars. Most times I see these trains they are running as 91Q.

lwjabo · October 02, 2011, 11:26:07 PM

The old Southern Fab Plant is between the inbound and Pig Yard at Inman. It welds new rail and inspects used rail. Then re-weld the old rail to be relayed. It was built back in the 1950s when Southern started laying ribbon. I was told Southern started laying ribbon about 1954. When I retired NS was getting rail from out west but my guess they bought it about where ever they could. I was on a work train in 1982 and we laid Nippon from Japan. Believe me they had a lot of problems with it at first. They figured the clamps that held it together were causing crack in the rail. Said it had chrome in the rail. One day after laying rail it broke all night when they ran trains over it and next day we never got out of the storage track at Oostanulla. There were engineers from all over Southern trying to figure out the problem. They flew some into a local airport and hauled them to where it was.

NSMoWandS · October 15, 2011, 02:42:59 PM

Mittal does make rail.

steveiez · October 15, 2011, 07:59:42 PM

Much of the rail used on the FT WAYNE LINE at Pittsburgh is Steelton. It is marked Bethlehem Steel-Steelton. Made before Beth sold to Mittal.