Railroad rail comes in many types and sizes. Because of this, important information regarding the type, size, and manufacture of the rail is stamped, or branded, on the web of the rail during the manufacturing process. For more detailed information on what each part of the rail brand means, please see our blog post from May 21, 2014, about rail identification.
A typical rail brand looks like this:
115 RE HH VT Nippon 1999 1111111
115: Indicates rail weight, in pounds, per three feet of length
RE: Indicates section
HH: Indicates rail grade
VT: Indicates hydrogen elimination method
Nippon: Indicates manufacturer
1999: Indicates manufacturer
1111111: Indicates month of manufacture in Roman numerals
Rail Section
The rail section is a way to identify the engineering association that established the design specifications for the rail. Rail sections identify the following engineering associations.
AB - Atkinson Bowman
ARA-A - American Railway Association; High Speed
ARA-B - American Railway Association; Low Speed
AS - American Society of Civil Engineers
ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers
CB - C&O, B&O
DY - Dudley
DYM - Dudley Modified
HF - Head Free
NH - New York, New Haven, and Hartford
NYC - New York Central
PS - Pennsylvania Railroad Standard
RE - American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA)
Rail Grade
Rail is divided into two primary grades known as standard grade and premium grade. Each grade has several subcategories, as follows.
Standard Rail:
3HB - 300 Brinell Hardness
CC - Control Cool
CH - End Hardened
CrMo - Chrome Molybdenum Alloy
CROMO RAIL - Chrome Molybdenum Alloy
HISI - High Silicon
IH - Intermediate Hardness
MH - Medium Hardness
SA - Special Application
SMH - Intermediate Hardness
SS - Standard Strength
Premium Rail:
CT - Control Treated
DH - Deep Head Hardened
DH37, DH37S, DH370 - Deep Head Hardened 370 Brinell
DH400 - Deep Head Hardened 400 Brinell
DS - Micro Alloy Head Hardened
FHH - Fully Head Hardened
FT - Fully Heat Treated
HCP - High Carbon Pearlite
HE - Hypereutectoid
HE370 - Hypereutectoid 370 Brinell
HE400 - Hypereutectoid 400 Brinell
HH - Head Hardened
HS - High Carbon Micro Alloy Head Hardened
LAHH - Low Alloy Head Hardened
LHH - Low Allow Head Hardened
NH - New Head Hardened
OCP - One Percent Carbon Pearlite
Method of Hydrogen Elimination
Hydrogen and other gases must be eliminated from the steel while still a liquid to prevent cracks or voids from developing as the steel cools and hardens. There are five methods used to accomplish this in the rail manufacturing process.
BC - Bloom Cooled
CC - Control Cooled
HH - Head Hardened
OH - Open Hearth Method
VT - Vacuum Treated
Manufacturers
The following is a list of manufacturers of rail and the country in which they are located.
Algoma - Algoma Steel, Canada
ATH - Thyssen Steel, Germany
BSCO - Bethlehem Steel, Steelton Mill, USA
BSC Workington - British Steel, Workington Mill, UK
British Steel - British Steel, UK
Carnegie - US Steel, Carnegie Mill, USA
CF&I - Colorado Fuel & Iron, USA
Colorado - Colorado Fuel & Iron, USA
Corus - Corus Steel, France
DO - Voest Alpine Steel, Donawitz Mill, Austria
DOM - Dominion Steel, Canada
DOMINION - Dominion Steel, Canada
HY - Corus Steel, Hyange Mill, France
Illinois - US Steel, USA
Inland - US Steel, USA
ISG - International Steel Group, USA
JFE - Japanese Ferrous Steel, Japan
Klockner - Klockner Steel, Germany
Krupp - Krupp Steel, Germany
Lackawanna - Bethlehem Steel, Lackawanna Mill, USA
Lucchinni - Lucchinni Steel, Italy
Maryland - Bethlehem Steel, Sparrow Points Mill, USA
MH - British Steel, Workington Mill, UK
Mittal - Mittal Steel, USA
MR - Rodange Steel - Luxembourg
Nippon - Nippon Steel, Japan
NKK - Nippon Steel, Kokan Mill, Japan
PST - Pennsylvania Steel Technologies, USA
RMSM - Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, USA
Rodange - Rodange Steel, Luxembourg
Sacilor - Sacilor Steel, France
SDI - Steel Dynamics Inc., Columbia City Mill, USA
Steelton - Bethlehem Steel, Steelton Mill, USA
Sumitomo - Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Mill, USA
Sydney - Sydney Steel, Canada
SYSCO - Sydney Steel, Canada
TCI - US Steel, Tennessee Mill, USA
TENN - US Steel, Tennessee Mill, USA
TENNESSEE - US Steel, Tennessee Mill, USA
Thyssen - Thyssen Steel, Germany
TZ - Moravia Steel, Czech Republic
VILRU - Villerupt Steel, France
Wheeling - Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, USA
Workington - British Steel, Workington Mill, UK
WP - Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, USA
