For the past hundred years, railroads have been an important means of transportation for passengers and freight. Over the years, train traffic, speeds, and loads have increased steadily, leading to a more severe wheel-rail environment that exceeds the design limits of the steels, thus causing increased wear, decreased rail life, and higher maintenance costs. The cost of controlling friction and the resulting damage is an area of ever-increasing concern. One potential method of modifying friction is by changing the surface properties of the rail. The work reported herein was carried out as part of a larger effort to modify the surface friction of rails.