vpone
Bronze Member
- May 1, 2007
- 1,028
- 828
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Equinox 800, 11" & 15" coils
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
This is my absolute favorite find. It's not worth a lot and is not super rare or anything like that. I guess I just like it so much because of the setting in which it was found.
Back about 5 years ago I was detecting a coal mining ghost town. The town was at the very top of a mountain and was located in a dense wooded area. The people who lived there back in the 1870's & 1880's had a very tough life. The men and some children worked in the coal mines while the women tended to everyday life in this isolated town.
This toy iron was found right next to an old railroad track that has not seen a train in over a 125 years. I think this section of track was left by accident when the mining company moved on.
Ya see, the town was eventually abandoned when the coal started running low in the mines near the late 1880's. The company that owned the rights to these mines stopped operations and dismantled the tracks and other equipment, moving it all to another site miles away. Once the mining company was gone, the people who had lived & worked there for most of their lives also moved away and within a year after the closing of the mines, there was no one left.
This little iron is obviously a child's toy, maybe played with by the daughter one of the workers. I can almost imagine a hot summer day, and a small girl playing with her doll by the side of the railroad track while her father worked close by. It's nearly the end of the day and finished now, the dad takes the girl by the hand to walk her home for dinner. She hurriedly grabs her doll and other toys but won't realize until later that she's forgotten the little iron .... Most of these families were very poor, and I can only imagine the fuss the little girl made when she realized she'd lost this toy.
I remember the day I found it perfectly. It was very hot, and I was almost done for the day. I hadn't found much of anything and was very discouraged. I decided to check out a section of woods I had not explored and it was then I stumbled across the railroad track. All that was left was just one piece of iron rail about 20 feet long, laying right on top of the ground.
I started to detect the area and soon got an iffy signal that was deep. I dug & dug and found the little iron at a depth of about ten inches. I was using my White's DFX with the Hot Shot coil at the time.
This year I gave the little iron to my daughter as a keepsake. She has it proudly displayed on her dresser and tells all her friends of the little girl who played with it so long ago.
Take Care,
vp
Back about 5 years ago I was detecting a coal mining ghost town. The town was at the very top of a mountain and was located in a dense wooded area. The people who lived there back in the 1870's & 1880's had a very tough life. The men and some children worked in the coal mines while the women tended to everyday life in this isolated town.
This toy iron was found right next to an old railroad track that has not seen a train in over a 125 years. I think this section of track was left by accident when the mining company moved on.
Ya see, the town was eventually abandoned when the coal started running low in the mines near the late 1880's. The company that owned the rights to these mines stopped operations and dismantled the tracks and other equipment, moving it all to another site miles away. Once the mining company was gone, the people who had lived & worked there for most of their lives also moved away and within a year after the closing of the mines, there was no one left.
This little iron is obviously a child's toy, maybe played with by the daughter one of the workers. I can almost imagine a hot summer day, and a small girl playing with her doll by the side of the railroad track while her father worked close by. It's nearly the end of the day and finished now, the dad takes the girl by the hand to walk her home for dinner. She hurriedly grabs her doll and other toys but won't realize until later that she's forgotten the little iron .... Most of these families were very poor, and I can only imagine the fuss the little girl made when she realized she'd lost this toy.
I remember the day I found it perfectly. It was very hot, and I was almost done for the day. I hadn't found much of anything and was very discouraged. I decided to check out a section of woods I had not explored and it was then I stumbled across the railroad track. All that was left was just one piece of iron rail about 20 feet long, laying right on top of the ground.
I started to detect the area and soon got an iffy signal that was deep. I dug & dug and found the little iron at a depth of about ten inches. I was using my White's DFX with the Hot Shot coil at the time.
This year I gave the little iron to my daughter as a keepsake. She has it proudly displayed on her dresser and tells all her friends of the little girl who played with it so long ago.
Take Care,
vp
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