Crack initiation and growth in full scale railway axle in A1T mild steel have been studied, under three points rotating bending loading conditions and artificial rainwater as corrosive environment. A surface plastic replication technique has been used along with optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy to monitor the environment assisted fatigue at various stages. A modified Murtaza and Akid empirical model has been employed to predict the corrosion fatigue crack growth rates and a reasonable agreement has been found between experimental and calculated lifetime. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICM11