International Railroad Discussion > How heavy is this rail?

Mato, Tochigi, Japan is the current end of the line for the Watarase Railroad. This is the depot turned small waiting room and large community center with the 14:44 arriving DMU from Kiryu, Gunma. The Ashio copper mines once supported a town of 10,000 people, but they closed since 1973. Can someone decipher the marks on the rail into weight? It looks incredibly heavy for such light current use.  When the mines were operating, concentrates from the mill in Ashio were shipped to the smelter beyond Mato. Most of the line doesn't even have tieplates and these are spiked down as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/16 13:44 by Railpax71.

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Could it be 88lb or 90lb. Per Wikipedia 40 = 81 lb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/16 16:54 by usmc1401.

Looks to be no more than 85lb rail judging from the ties etc

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This is 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in). The profile is very tall.  I see, the 40 refers to the kilos in this case 40x2.2 = 88.  One yard - .9144 meter which yields 80.5 pounds/yard.  What is the "N"?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/16 18:24 by Railpax71.

Best explanation I found was the "N" designation on the rail indicates a wider base and a slot is not cut for the spike at the fishplate? The chart shows several Japanese rail profile types. Here we see 40N which they say is 40.9 kg/m.  Now what is the "OH"?  I've only found HH so far in heat treatments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/16 13:31 by Railpax71.

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Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Best explanation I found was the "N" designation
> on the rail indicates a wider base and a slot is
> not cut for the spike at the fishplate? The chart
> shows several Japanese rail profile types. Here we
> see 40N which they say is 40.9 kg/m.  Now what is
> the "OH"?  I've only found HH so far in heat
> treatments.

My conclusion is that "N" designation is for a Japan-only rail manufacturing specifications, while A and others might be imported specifications (from U.S. and others). OH stands for Open Hearth, as in open hearth furnances for steel manufacturing?