Dick Quickwood Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 i had never heard of this until a couple days ago when an old man told me. railroads used to hammer spikes into crossties on new tracks, with the year of construction on the head. i don't know if they still do this, i've never noticed these spikes on crossties still in the ground. this one came out of a soft, nice smelling crosstie, maybe pine. interesting how it still had the creosote and wood smell. the number 24 is hard to make out, as in 1924. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Quickwood Posted June 1, 2005 Author Share Posted June 1, 2005 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublebase Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 wow cool yay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistikFunk Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 cool... yeah they used to date them. The milwaukee road used copper dated spikes on the mountain division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 I've been in a few yards around canada where they still have old sections of rail that were date stamped when they were originally forged. Its strange to think that in some yards trains are still rolling over rail from 1908. or 1912. Take a look sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWX1994 Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 never noticed it on spikes, but i have see dates on rails that are abandoned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 i have a couple form '33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raw fish Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 I have a handful from the 20's and 30's... I havent seen them on any active lines, but I find them time to time on old dead lines... check ebay, they come up for sale from time to time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollinaround Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 date nails......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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