Weight Of US Mainline Rail? - Trains Magazine
Rachel Ellis
Updated on April 07, 2026
Depends on the railroad and the anticipated tonnage.
Freight railroads predominately 136#.
Transit operations predominately 115#. (In higher demand right now, causing some weird pricing flutters where some new 132# rail may be cheaper than 115# which seems counter intuitive)
Turnouts and special trackwork almost all 115 and 136# because of the availability of new feedstock for planing into frogs and switch points.
Except for an occasional rare run of 90# or 100#, nothing new under 115#.
