Railroad nails

[Tedshere]

    I was on a road trip to Colorado and stopped at an antigue store somewhere in Kansas. There was a slab of styrofoam with about 50 or 60 nails stuck in it. These nails had numbers formed on the heads. The guy told me they were used by the Union Pacific to keep track of how long the different ties lasted.
    As a section of rail was replaced these nails would be put in one or two of the ties in that section.
    He showed me a book that also mentioned nails with code letters on them to show what type of wood the ties were made of. He didn't have any of the lettered ones, but said both would have been used to keep track of maintenance.
    I paid $1.00 for one with a 43 on it. My birthyear.
    Anybody have more info on these nails??
    Ted

[jonathan]

In my own whimsical studies of the B&O, I have found using tie tracking nails was a common practice among a number of railroads, attempting to be ever more cost effective. I don't know if they used a common system or produced idividual coding systems.

As with any other collectible railroadiana, there a some seedy folks out there who produce lots of fakes.  Buyer beware.

Regards,

Jonathan

[rbryce1]

They didn't say "Made in China", did they???

[Desertdweller]

The nails you are talking about are tie date nails.  Some railroads used them to indicate the date the tie was installed.

They date the tie, not the rail.  The rail is marked on the side of the rail itself: a year, with hash marks to indicate the month manufactured (not the month installed).  Also on the rail is the weight of the rail in pounds per yard, and the manufacturer.  Common manufacturers of rail used in the Western are USS (United States Steel), and CFI (Colorado Fuel and Iron).

Go out in the late afternoon when the sun hits the sides of the rail at a low angle, and it is easy to read.

Les

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I paid $1.00 for one with a 43 on it. My birthyear.

A friend gave me one that he found in an antique shop in Leadville, Colorado, with my birth year on it. 

[Jerrys HO]

Thanks Hunt that was a very interesting article. I walked many miles on them ties and never knew or saw any nails like that.

Jerry

[Doneldon]

Ted-

A dollar is a fair price for your nail. Yes, you can often buy them for less but, hey, a buck isn't much for a historical item these days.


Jerry-

Date nails were only used on a few ties out of a lot which could be anywhere from hundreds to thousands of ties depending on the railroad and whether
the nails were ordered for a small replacement project or major new construction. But ... they were used on lots of other items as well, things like
telegraph poles, bridges, trestles and even some buildings. They're a rather elegantly simple way to keep track of how long things held up.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 -- D

[Tedshere]

    Hunt:  Thanks for that site. It told me what I was interested in knowing about these date nails. Great info!
    Les:  Good information from you also!
    Now to the question of it being fake or made in China. At first I was a bit disheartened to think that someone would even suggest such a possibility. But it didn't take me long to start putting 2 and 2 together. Being the skeptical type myself, I replayed in my mind what the guy in the antique store told me. Compared that with the condition of the nail I bought.
    The display I found this nail in had some that were in pretty bad condition. I chose one that was mostly shinny and just a few spots of rust. I did notice that it didn't look like it had ever been struck with a hammer.
    The story I got from the antique dealer was that he had bought the entire collection from some guy who had worked for the Union Pacific. I suppose that guy could have been pulling these nails from used ties as a collection. But the impression I got was, it was his job to go around pulling these nails. It just doesn't make sense that UP would pay someone to pull nails from used ties that were being discarded. So there are some problems with that.
    BUT ! I'm not a serious collector and in fact never knew of the existence of these nails. For the price of $1.00 I learned a whole bunch of new info.
    Thanks all,  Ted

[Doneldon]

Ted-

I'd be extremely surprised if your date nail is fake. They exist in very large numbers and,
with just a few exceptions, they have no intrinsic value and only moderate collector value.
Frankly, there isn't any money to be made counterfeiting them.
                                                                                                 -- D

[Tedshere]

Thanks ----D.
    Meant to mention your previous post also. But hit send to soon.
   Always appreciate your input.
    Ted