1845 era iron rail .... threadless era of railroading

By Jack Snyder; posted July 21, 2020

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This is very early pear shaped rail was used in the the wood burning locomotive era. This rail was found in Lake Erie along a shoreline. Iron smelting in that era was very haphazard. The rail was defective when it left the furnace. Derailments were common accidents. I slabbed a few pieces and found as made fractures in some of the cores.

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