Apparatus (10) for reeling a traveling paper web (14) into a wound web roll (18) on a reel spool (22) having opposite ends, the apparatus comprising first and second generally parallel, generally horizontal rails (30, 34) each having an upper surface (38) for supporting a respective end of the reel spool, a support belt (54) mounted for movement along an endless path, the belt having an upper run (78) angled downwardly in the downstream direction (20), first and second carriages (114, 124) operatively associated with the first and second rails, respectively, for longitudinal movement parallel to the rails, each of the carriages being selectively operative to engage a respective end of the reel spool such that the reel spool moves with the carriages along the rails, a drive (136) for selectively engaging and rotating the reel spool when the reel spool is engaged by the carriages, and a positioning device for selectively positioning the carriages into an initial reeling position (162) in which the web is reeled onto a reel spool engaged by the carriages and in which the upper run of the belt is in nipping engagement (N2) with the web being wound onto the reel spool, and positioning the carriages downstream of the initial reeling position to control the nip pressure between the belt and the web being wound onto the reel spool during reeling of the wound web roll, whereby the wound web roll is moved downstream while being horizontally supported by the rails, rotatably driven by the drive, and nipped by the belt until the desired web roll diameter is reached.