Posted 13 years ago
ThriftyGypsy
(103 items)
Greeetings fellow collectors,
I had a friend who works for the railroad tell me about these items several months ago, and I have been trying to find some ever since. I happened to run across a jar full at the flea market this weekend, and had to have them all !! Great find at a great price ! My friend told me that these type nails were used to date cross ties on train tracks when they were replaced. This would give the company the year that they were installed, so they would know when to replace them. They were nailed into the cross tie and used for future reference. The practice went out of date some time during the 60's, and I guess they use some other method these days to date them. These were from the 20's and 30's, but the practice started sometime in the 1800's. Any comments or information will be greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy them. ThriftyGypsy
CN leaves the ties in now until they show signs of wear, damage, or rot. There was a time when you could get nice second hand ties that they had taken out, but not any more.
Thanks officialfuel for the love !
Thanks walksoftly for the love and the information. I believe what you say, they probably leave them in as long as possible. The ones you see stacked up now definitely are not useable again ! Another cost savings ! TG
Thanks toolate2 for the love ! Sounds like I posted this at a good time. I see that there has been some on going discussion about cross tie nails in reference to another item posted ! TG
Nice collection! They can make a great display.
Thanks kerry10456 for the love !
Very nice, I worked on the CNW for several years and would pluck these out of the replacement ties as they came out. The newest one I've ever seen and have is 1958. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks packrat-place for the love and the comments ! I have a few more to go with these, so I will definitely have to figure me out some type of display ! TG
Note: these are made of a copper -bronze alloy.
Thanks kerry10456 for the info ! TG
Thanks AR8Jason for the love and the link ! TG. Hope you have a good day..... we are getting some serious rain here in N.C. this morning ! Flood warnings, etc.
Thanks mrmajestic1 for the love !
Date Nail Info
http://facstaff.uindy.edu/~oaks/DateNailInfo.htm
http://nailhunter.ehost.com/index.htm#index
Thanks gargoylecollector for the love !
Thanks jimborasco for the love ! TG
Thanks Bellin68 for the love ! TG
Love the Date nails !! I have some with 20 on them that have never been Hammered in. I will try to post them when I run across them (:-D)
Glad you liked the posting nutsabotas6, I have these put up and haven't thought about them in a while. I need to figure out where I put them.... Thrifty