155lb. rail

Bring in the No. NJ area, only place I ever saw this giant rail was on the present NEC including thru Newark Penn. Most other competing main line rail in this area seemed to range from 105lb. to 131lb. and today is mostly 132lb. or 136lb..

Was this 155lb. type needed for the GGI's or was it used/found system wide ?

Where, how much of this rail is still in place under current owners ?

thanks.

The Paoli Local had it. In the late summer of 1968, it was being replaced by 140 lb welded rail on the local tracks East of Bryn Mawr. The center express tracks were probably replaced for the recent Keystone Route improvements.

There was a lot of it used on the Keystone Line. If you ever go ride the Strasburg Railroad, the track the engine does its run-around for the return trip on is still 155# rail. The 155# rail also continues on down the line back to were the grain facility used to be.

No reason the GG1s would need especially heavy rail.

Dunno how much 152/155 lb rail was laid west of Pittsburgh, but I bet a large chunk (half?) of the NY-Pittsburgh main track mileage was 152/155.

The GG-1 certainly didn't need it. The GG-1 was chosen because it had superior "tracking" to alternative designs (P5a, R1), which meant that it put less stress on the track structure. Maximum axle weight on a GG-1 was in the 50,000 to 55,000 pound range (slight variation between orders), compared to over 70,000 for the heaviest modern diesels and many late steam locomotives. And its "quill drive" meant that the dynamic forces ("hammer blow") it exerted on the track would be proportionally less than those of a modern diesel with its "nose suspended" motors, let alone a steam locomotive with its pistons directly connected to the driving wheels.

I don't know where beyond the Northeast Corridor the PRR used its ultra-heavy rail, but I suspect it was "over-designed" for the electrified district. The motive power that really needed it would have been the heavy steamers.