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Bethlehem Steel Railroad Track


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Hello All...I found this piece of metal with the profile of a railroad track. It's marked "Bethlehem" and "L.V. 80". I'm guessing it's from Bethlehem Steel and possibly the LV is Lehigh Valley and the 80 is 1980? Im less than an hour from Bethlehem so that's why I'm guessing this. Any ideas on what it is?

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The 80 is probably 80 pound rail, which is no longer a standard size.  It seems to be just under the standard dimensions of 85 pound rail.  However, all the big companies made many rail profiles in many sizes to order so "standard" can be a bit incorrect usage--might have been for a side loading track or something that'd never see heavy engine use.

L.V. could have been Lehigh or just about anything.  One reference says Lehigh used 76 pound rail as their standard in 1887.  LVRR owned/controlled the companies which eventually consolidated into Bethlehem steel and was considered integral to Bethlehem operations.

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See if the measurements are close to the ones listed here. If they are then you're looking at a slice of 80lbs/yard rail. You can find more information at the following link or search for railroad rail weight.

http://harmersteel.com/hs/wp-content/catalog/cache/harmer-steel-catalog-2014/16.pdf

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And I see Kozzy replied much the same as I did. :)

 

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Thanks Frosty, I was hoping maybe a former employee would be on here and be able to help. Unfortunately the company went bankrupt due to not being able to keep up with foreign pricing so contacting them won't happen. I've come across a few other Bethlehem Steel items and they're somewhat of a hot commodity. 

Ok that's good info! The dimensions are very close to that so I'm guessing that's it. My question is what would this be used for? Is it like a salesman sample or something?

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