When wheels and rails are in operation, their complicated and changeable contact conditions contribute to the formation of white etching layers on their contact surface. Martensite white etching layers (M-WELs) can induce the initiation of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) cracks, accelerating wheel/rail failure; Tribological white etching layers (T-WELs) can improve wear resistance. Therefore, to investigate the formation of T-WELs is to provide theoretical bases for developing surface strengthening technology. In order to delve into the mechanism for the formation of T-WELs, this paper conducted dry friction sliding wear experiment on ingot iron (equiaxed ferrite), D1 wheel steel (lamellar eutectoid ferrite) and FCB wheel steel (lath-like bainite-ferrite), and generalized the impacts of ferrite with different morphology and the second phase on the evolution of T-WELs. The result showed that T-WELs formed on the worn surfaces of all of these materials under the condition of sliding wear, and the evolution of T-WELs displayed similarities. Under the impact of dislocation slip mechanism, size reduction and dimension reduction were realized and finally ultrafine ferrite grains formed. But the second phase would increase the critical shear stress value of the transformation of ultrafine ferrite grains, hindering the formation of T-WELs and eventually affecting the size of ultrafine ferrite grains inside T-WELs.