Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 | Page 2

Association specification calls
attention to this matter in the following words: 'When lower
phosphorus can be secured, a proper proportionate increase in carbon
should be made.' The amount of increase is not provided for in the
specifications, and this appears to us to be necessary in order to secure
uniformity of practice; otherwise, the fixing of these percentages
becomes a matter of special arrangement. Bessemer rails are being
furnished regularly with phosphorus under the maximum allowed, and
where this is done, the carbon should be raised above the higher limit
now fixed in our specifications, or a soft and poor wearing rail will
result; yet this condition has not been fully guarded against in rails
furnished under existing specifications. The lower and upper limits for
carbon have heretofore been fixed with the intention that the mills
furnish rails with a composition as near between the two limits as
possible. The mills, however, in order to meet the prescribed drop tests
with the least difficulty, keep both the carbon and manganese as nearly
as possible to the lower limits, with the corresponding result that a
generally poor-wearing rail is furnished.
"Some roads have prescribed the limits of deflection to be allowed
under the drop test. With our present knowledge, we believe that we
should fix a minimum deflection to eliminate brittle rails and to secure
greater uniformity of product; also maximum deflection to eliminate

soft rails. We are not able at the present time to fix these limits, but our
ultimate object will be to determine and fix such limits for the
specifications.
"With reference to the amount of discard, time of holding in ladle, size
of nozzles, and other such details of manufacture or machinery, we are
of the opinion that the physical and chemical tests required should be
prescribed, and that we should see that the material submitted for
acceptance meets the prescribed tests. We should not dictate to the
manufacturers the amount of crop which shall be removed from the top
of the ingot, as this should vary with the care and time consumed at the
various mills. The railroads should not be asked to take anything but
sound material in their rails. The mills can furnish such sound material
if the proper care and sufficient time are taken in the making of the
ingots. Information derived from the tests being made at the Watertown
Arsenal shows definitely that sound rails cannot be made from unsound
ingots, and that, therefore, the prime requisite in securing a sound rail is
to first secure the sound ingot.
"We recommend that the present Specifications for Steel Rails be
withdrawn from the Manual of Recommended Practice of the
Association, as no longer representing the current state of the art.
"We submit herewith, as Appendix 'A,' a form for specifications. It will
have to be amended from time to time as we receive further
information on the subject."
The specifications referred to above were modified and presented at the
Meeting in Supplement to Bulletin No. 121, of March, 1910, and in this
final form are attached hereto.
These specifications do not represent the work of any one Society or
the work of any one Committee, but are the result of all the work of the
different Societies, as the members of all are so interwoven that
whatever work is done in any one Society, or by the Committee of a
Society, has very naturally and fortunately been carried into the others.
At the Chicago Meeting these specifications were accepted without a

single change, and this is very unusual and shows how generally
acceptable they were, as the members of all Rail Committees were
present at the Meeting. The main points in this specification were
discussed and agreed upon by the members of the Committee and the
Rail Committee of the manufacturers who have co-operated with them
in this work.
In the matter of Rail Sections, the Rail Committee of The American
Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association has not
arrived at any definite conclusions. The new sections "A" and "B" of
The American Railway Association have not given as good results as
was expected of them, and the whole matter is yet under consideration.
The Committee reported as follows:[D]
"The instructions of the American Railway Association require us to
study the A. R. A. sections 'A' and 'B' in use and submit a single type
for standard. Owing to the conditions existing in 1908, very little rail
was laid, and practically none of the A. R. A. sections, in such manner
as to give the needed information. This year, several roads have laid A.
R. A. sections of rail, with a view of determining the relative merits of
the respective sections. These rails have been in the track so short a
time that we