Original Rail

The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 required American-made iron for all rail used on the transcontinental railroad. Steel was more durable but was not widely available in the United States, where it remained a costly import used mainly for specialty products during the Civil War, while iron was accessible and much less expensive. Demand for iron to build the transcontinental railroad boosted the domestic economy, and iron became the material that linked the nation from east to west. The original rail used on the line was a "pear head" type whose cross section resembled an upside-down pear, formed by heating and rolling together several bars of wrought iron. This process created many layers that made the rail weaker than a single solid piece of iron, and despite the pear-shaped design intended to counter that weakness, the layered iron was vulnerable to splintering under heavy weight. Iron rail was therefore not very durable and needed frequent replacement. Although the transcontinental railroad brought unprecedented growth and prosperity to the United States, its iron rail was already outdated technology and was soon replaced by sturdier steel rail as steel became more widely available in the 1870s.

Thatcher, Utah · United States