This is a shot of a sticker on the side of a fairly new stretch of welded rail. It was found last month at CPF201 on the new double track south of Rigby Yard in S. Portland, ME. I thought I had some kind of a clue about who made the rail when I saw it. One used to see names like Lackawanna, Carnegie, CF&I, Steelton, or even Nippon. Who or what is Mittal? Names used to be embossed or raised letters on the side of the rail web indicating the manufacturer along with some number giving the rail's weight in pounds per yard, like 90, 115, 132, or even 150 on the old PRR. A date could be part of the number too. The oldest one I've ever seen in service was on an AT&SF branch in Kansas that read Carnegie 1897, and I think it was 85 pounds per yard. Lots of date nails going back to the 1920's too. Generally these are things you see when you are standing around waiting on the next train to pass before your lense. All I could find on the rail at CPF201 was this odd bar code sticker with "Mittal" among the data present. A search of the web led to an interesting journey through recent industrial aquisitions and the downfall of the U.S. owned steel industry. Arcelor Mittal is a giant international steel company and they now own what's left of some of the once proud names in U.S. steel manufacturing like Inland, LTV, Jones-Laughlin and others. Among them is Bethelehem, a prior owner of the Steelton rail plant in PA, which is the best guess I have about the origin of this rail. While I was looking for who Mittal is, I also found this great article on the latest issues in rail manufacturing. Amazing what is going on these days and Mittal is now a big player.
That little sticker spoke volumes.
BC
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