First Ribbon Rail on the N&W ?

[NW Mailing List]

Abe

There was an N&W Magazine article in the November 1941 issue that was headed “Joining Rails By Welding” which stated the first welded rail (128-feet long) had already been installed in the expansion of the Roanoke Yard. It also stated that the when the article was being written, the outfit at the Material Yard in Roanoke is being made ready to weld rail even longer, to 730 feet, and will be used in the eastbound main line track at the Bluefield passenger station. A little side bar depicting the rail being laid at Bluefield. It further stated that the rail was moved to Bluefield from Roanoke on a string of 17 flat cars in a regular westbound freight train.

Best
Ken Miller

> On Oct 30, 2023, at 12:53 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Does anyone know when/where the first Ribbon Rail (or "Continuous Welded Rail," as the proper people in life would have us call it) was installed on the N&W?  Hopefully someone will put together a little research paper on this, before all the memories and literature on the subject become extinct.
> 
> -- abram burnett
> Our Turnips Don't Need No Dern Glock Mags !
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