I will have to dig around to find them but I traded a guy quite a number of years ago for a great set. He wanted some of my art prints and had a complet set (every year) of nails I believe 1920-1970 along with some special headed ones. I am not sure where I put them though. Even had the silver ones from the war years.
I traded for a few MILW ones in copper, and GN as well; just today, I found a gang of GN ones. Once I mount them more properly, I will post photos.
Well, I'm not a collector. Just from my favorite Milwaukee Road. So, how about taking a look at something that does not exist? I pulled both of these myself. At left, just for comparison, is a 1949. At right a 1951! Note they are of essentially identical design. However, self annointed "experts" loudly proclaim the one at right does not exist! As you can clearly see for yourself, is the non-existing 1951!!! I pulled it myself from Milw tracks I knew well, in early 1981. No mistake. It is REAL! I have two people who watched me removing it from a Milw tie, on a Milw only line, where there was NO other railroad in the vicinity. Ever. One witness is my wife. The other a friend and former Milw employee. Don't ya' just love "experts?" :thumbs_down: :angry: Boxcab E50
I've got a couple off a Santa FE branch that used to run from PAris, TX south to Dallas (once was the Frisco connection from MOnett, MO to Paris). They're somewhere, like all the rest of my RR stuff is these days, "in a box in the garage". ANd somewhere I got a MP date nail off the ex-T&P line thru Paris, around the same time.
Now I know that the use for date nails in ties was to tell the MOW folks how long the tie had been there. However, I don't seem to see nails in new crossties. How do today's RRs tell how long a certain tie has been in use, or do they just pull it out when it looks bad?
I have all of three. A 1930 that I pulled from the old Boston & Maine track that ran through Milford, New Hampshire and two 1951's that I pulled from some ties used for fence posts not far from the Santa Fe line outside of Cameron, Texas. You can see them somewhere in this photo.
Some RRs also had stamp marks, drill hole patterns, and... These days? There are inspections made. Is it simply a certain area gets done after "X" period of time? Boxcab E50
It's almost that simple. Actually there is a mathamatical formula that says if you replace every tie on x spacing each year that the average age of the ties will maintain the age necessary for the track speed desired. Of course the whole thing is based on starting in one spot each year and each subsequent year starting with the next tie. Of course concrete ties are making inroads at eliminating the wood tie.
Yes. Steel has been tried. Believe one reason they're not used, is cost. Another is the troubles possible, in isolating them for signalling purposes. Also, like concrete, they damage more readily than wood. A BNSF tie gang fellow told me about a year back they've actually stopped using concrete in certain areas. Am trying to remember what he explained. Believe it had something to do with problems holding the tracks in alignment. Tamped ballast can actually bite into, and hold a wooden tie. But the same is not true of concrete. Boxcab E50
They are now making ties out of recycled plastic. They shred things like milk jugs and bond them together with a resin or something like that. So far in tests they are far superior to anything else. They don't break down and pulverise like concrete and don't rot like wood.
I have a large handfull that I have found on the the old L&N line from Marrietta towards Etowah. Part of the old hook and eye route. Which is now the Georgia Northeastern.
What are the chances of finding a date nail now a days? When I was a kid I had a bunch that I pulled from the old Erie main in Hubbard, OH. I also had some metal plates they used on a curve to list the amount of superelevation. They are all long gone now : (
Chris- Believe it, or not, you can still find a few. It takes some time. And a lot of walking. Looking in side tracks, spurs, ties used as r-o-w fence posts, cribbing, tossed over the embankment, and so on. Pack a lunch, water, a couple of tools, and wear comfortable hiking boots..... But if off the tracks, watch for bees, snakes, and so forth! mg: Boxcab E50
In my 42 years, on the U.P. I collected what I thought was a complete set of date and length nails from U.P. ties. I also had quite a collection of S.P. and Santa Fe nails. I used to keep my collection in my work car, all in order, stuck in a piece of styrofoam. One night, my car was stolen and stripped. That was the last of my collection. I wanted to go to where my car was found, hoping to find my nails, but the police said they wouldn't advise it.
If anyone is close to Montague, California, there's lots of date nails from the '20s, 30's, 40's and 50's.
