Rails Company Three Generations & 95+ years.
Rails Company started with my grandfather, Lester T. Burwell, in 1932. He was safely employed as a traveling salesman pitching products to US railroads when he was approached by a trackman inventor with the idea for a rail anchor. Lester shared the idea with his employer, who quickly shot it down. Undaunted despite the times, my grandfather bought the rights to the anchor, partnered with a mechanical engineer, gathered investors, and launched Rails Company in Maplewood, New Jersey, selling the original Compression Rail Anchor by the train-car load. And it’s still in our catalog today!
My father, Gar Wood Burwell, joined Rails Company in 1951, as a salesman after serving in the U.S. Airforce during the Korean War. Gar took the reins in 1965, after Lester’s passing and led the company until his own death in 2024.
During his tenure Dad discovered more problem-solving products he could present to the railroads and expanded the company with vertical integration, creating a new manufacturing facility in Maplewood. He expanded sales into Canada in the early 1960's when he met with the chief engineer of Canadian Pacific Railroad who expressed his frustration with how the current technology in switch heating equipment was no match for the northern winters. Seeing the opportunity, they jointly designed the first railway oil-fired hot air blower. They then created a propane engine unit that CP and Canadian National Railroad installed where power grids were insufficient to run even a one horsepower electric motor. Rails Company hot air blowers went on to become the industry standard across North America's railroads.
Gar’s four boys grew up in the company. During weekends and school breaks Dad would collectively bargain with us to come to the “office” to make hoses (RT-9s) and windshields (RT-8s) with an UNLOCKED soda machine for payment. Score!
My oldest brother, Darby, joined the sales department at Rails Company in 1984, where he still leads the team. With deep industry knowledge gained by years of traveling across the country and working directly with track and signal departments, he embodies Lester’s founding principle of collaborating with engineers and customers to develop novel solutions to railway switch and safety challenges.
I cut my teeth at Rails in High School as a draftsman working directly under our chief engineer who my father recruited from NASA’s Apollo program! After graduating from University of New Hampshire Business School, I headed west, as a young man does, and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, circumstances brought me back to Rails Company as the production and IT manager for 12 years where I streamlined and modernized the supply chain and computer operations. Eventually, I returned to the PNW as a business consultant and helped companies select and implement appropriate technologies to support their operations. I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse set of industries from small startup consumer products manufacturers to huge public fossil fuel and renewable energy suppliers and conglomerates. All the while remaining a consultant for Rails Company. In 2024, I returned to Rails again as the Interim CEO and became President in January 2026. For almost a century, Rails has been designing, developing and delivering reliable, effective products to North America’s railroads. We stand behind everything we do and have built a reputation for quality that has withstood the test of time. My brother and I, along with our experienced team, are determined to carry on the legacy we now have the honor and responsibility to protect. We look forward to working with you! – Todd Burwell, President and CEO
I cut my teeth at Rails in High School as a draftsman working directly under our chief engineer who my father recruited from NASA’s Apollo program! After graduating from University of New Hampshire Business School, I headed west, as a young man does, and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, circumstances brought me back to Rails Company as the production and IT manager for 12 years where I streamlined and modernized the supply chain and computer operations. Eventually, I returned to the PNW as a business consultant and helped companies select and implement appropriate technologies to support their operations. I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse set of industries from small startup consumer products manufacturers to huge public fossil fuel and renewable energy suppliers and conglomerates. All the while remaining a consultant for Rails Company. In 2024, I returned to Rails again as the Interim CEO and became President in January 2026. For almost a century, Rails has been designing, developing and delivering reliable, effective products to North America’s railroads. We stand behind everything we do and have built a reputation for quality that has withstood the test of time. My brother and I, along with our experienced team, are determined to carry on the legacy we now have the honor and responsibility to protect. We look forward to working with you! – Todd Burwell, President and CEO