Patent Pending Invented by George R. Burkhardt in 1940, the Torsion Resistant rail was created to improve upon torsional rigidity at the head of the rail thus giving greater resistance to web roll and rail fractures at the area where the head and web of the rail meet. This design called for a narrower and taller shape in the head of the rail when compared to the profile of an A.R.E.A rail of equivalent size. This unique rail was rolled primarily by the famous CF&I Rail Mill and given the size designation of 1122 which differentiated from the standard A.R.E.A 112 lb rail which CF&I designated as 1121. Today if you look hard enough, one can find this rail along former Burlington Route lines as they tested it for 3 years on 30 miles of track and even promoted it in newspapers of that time. For more information on this patent, click here.
