searching a train wreck

[webstokker]

Hi,(newbie to metal detecting and treasure hunting), I have located the site of a train wreck and wish to scan the area. the wreck happened in 1907 and involved a freight train and a passenger train. I am hoping for some jewelry and coins. Should I use any discrimination or just use all metal? I am using a Garrett GTI 2500, so I have plenty of features to choose from. Including a 9.5 inch coil or a 12.0 inch coil. I am leading toward the 12 inch coil. The site does not seem to have been searched before. (in as much, no dig holes are seen.)

 

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[liftloop]

well come a board go with the small,first get the iron out of there,all crap out then go back over with the 12, I would think no.

 

[deepskyal]

Glad to hear there isn't any gopher holes from detectorists. Doesn't mean nobodys been there but I think the odds are slim.

I've tried around tracks not far from where I live but the area is polluted with slag fill from all the steel mills around here. Cheap fill material.

Over years the RR's replace ties and aren't too particular where they toss the old spikes and plates, so be prepared for that. Then the iron left from the wreck.

But...there are/were a couple other guys on this forum that did a lot of rr detecting and found some pretty cool, very collectable locks and other misc. stuff.
Coins and jewelry are nice finds...but not all iron is trash.

Al

 

[webstokker]

OK! the tracks have been pulled up and it is now a hiking trail, sledders in the winter. there is no train pieces left as the RR removed all from the site at the time of wreck. I was there yesterday to scout it out. You have to walk 1.5 miles from the nearest road. there is still a lot of ice and snow there, but going fast. I figure the ground will be thawed (enough to dig) and the snow gone by the end of April. I will -post back here any finds. thanks for replying to my post .

 

[clearblk]

Just because it looks like nothing is there you should give it a swing or two. I'm going on 36 years of working for the railroad and I know that they used to bury as much "stuff" as they hauled away.
Good luck!!

P.S. My user name is clearblk = clear block - tracks are clear to the next signal.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The site does not seem to have been searched before. (in as much, no dig holes are seen.)

Hopefully it will look the same way when you are done. A good detectorist leaves no traces.

 

[Rockin Chairs Gold]

Some years back my father-in-law and I researched a passenger train wreck dating to the late 1800's in north central Illinois. It seems a train trestle collapsed during a spring flood. The wreck spread people debris and personal effects for hundreds of yards on both sides of the track.

According to a news paper article people picked up lost items for months after the wreck. We located the wreck sight and hunted around it with our metal detectors. We found a lot of iron and rail road spikes and some pieces of what appeared to be metal from the rail road cars. We did not find a single coin or piece of jewelry. We felt that because of spring floods the materials may have been buried under many inch's of silt. It was fun to do the research and make the trip to look but didn't find much of anything worth while. Rick IL

 

[railroad-relic-hunter]

Not all RR iron is bad iron! There are some pretty neat iron RR items that can be found and i'm not talking RR spikes,tie plates angle bars, track anchors ect. I've been hunting abandoned RR grades for over 20 years now and found some pretty neat stuff. I stay away from the heavy ballasted grades from newr lines. I prefer the older abandoned cinder grades built from 1850-1880 that have been gone for years.The older the better! I've found a few locks and keys and such but my favorite finds are the old cast iron bolt on journal box covers/lids that have the RR names embossed on the front. Alot of people have know clue what they even are. Sometimes you'll dig them up and there nothing but a glob of rust. With carefull cleaning most clean up well.

 

[spartacus53]

The site does not seem to have been searched before. (in as much, no dig holes are seen.)

Consider this, it's been over 100 years, craters would even be filled in by now

 

[uglymailman]

Back in the 70's I found quite a few small "Edison" bottles along RR track. I think they were used for acid to put into battery's for RR signals. My Great Uncle lived near tracks and found quite a few coins at creek crossing where train pulled water, they swept the cars out there and dumped the toilets. I think the coins came from the sweeping.
Let us know how it turns out. I know of a wreck from 1918.

 

[railroad-relic-hunter]

I've found several of those Edison bottles over the years also. There are a few different types and they have that "Thomas A. Edison" signature embossed on one side.The bottles with Bloomfield N.J. on them are 1915 and newer.Those with Orange N.J. on them are the older ones and seem to be harder to find. The newer ones aren't worth a whole lot but are still neat to find.They're always in the ditches close to where the RR battery boxes or signals once were and like anything else RR related that wasn't wanted they ended up in the ditch or alongside the right of way. Other glass items you'll often find laying on the surface or partially burried are broken pcs. of RR china, broken signal lens,and lantern globes.I've even found a few old marbles in areas far from towns or homes that children must have tossed out windows while riding trains long ago.

Railroaders were notorious for throwing unwanted items trackside or into creeks and rivers. The unwanted junk to them back then was much better stuff than the junk that they throw out today. I'm a railroader and guy's still toss stuff into the ditches! Of course to most treasurehunters they see it as rusty old iron or broken items and would rather hunt for better stuff. For me i know what's out there to be found and keep looking.