Another mystery railroad find and a tale of future relic posts to come...

MrMarsHill

Full Member
Jan 15, 2019
168
528
Mars Hill NC
Detector(s) used
Garrett ACE 300, current main user.
Garret AT Propointer, current main user.
Garrett GTAX750, classic machine and I love it!
Bounty hunter tracker iv, missing knob bought used on eBay... Still find
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi all! My dad wanted to hit the railroad site my mother and I " eyeballed" a few days ago more in depth and we had decent weather(NOT today actually, lol). They magnet fished the water and I eyeballed along the tracks and bank with my magnet pole. We both found a few more railroad spikes. With you guys help on my railroad tie "clip" last week, I was able to identify the plate that the spikes are driven through into the wood and holds 2 ties etc in place by the clips and spikes. Made a good display of the complete connection of the ties on the tracks anyway. In a big trash pile near the tracks, mostly shattered old bottles and tires, my mom found this hunk of huge iron. Absolutely a Railroad item I would say, but I have no clue what? It obviously connected 2 things, or parts of things together, maybe a train car? More track parts I'm missing? I was really looking at the old tracks well to get an idea of the parts of it though lol. Seems too small to connect cars and I think those are just pins anyway?, but I dont know personally. It's about 50+ lbs and it does have a name in raised lettering on the front? Top? Unlegible in pics and person, but my parents are trying to get a rubbing or find out with another method. Ill be sure to post the info if we find it. It's about 3' long/tall and went home with them lol. They have an old dump on their property, next to our family"camp" and we have placed wagon wheels we've dug and other large iron parts around in a decorative way(depending on your definition of decorative I reckon, lol)so this will fit well with the items dug right from the camp. I dont expect any of this to be of any value etc. Just curious to know what it is? What do we tell people when they say, "What the heck is that thing?" Lol! We also found this painted rock from "Berks County rocks". We have BURKES county rocks in NC and I posted on their Facebook page but I do believe this rock came from one of the northeastern states, Berks county PA maybe it was I saw? My memory is shot lol. We would like to find more info and probably keep the rock. Our mountains and little towns are tourist destinations to say the least now a days so it's not surprising to possibly find something so far from home lol. I believe my parents will keep the rock anyway. I metal detected a few minutes and in all the trash I found this old cap gun part. I noticed the letters "PAL" on the side and after some research found out it came from a Kilgore Pal cap gun probably from around the 1950s or earlier. It's a heavy little hunk of zinc I guess? Underwater find though and a Cool looking little piece to set in my eccentric " Junk relics display case". As is my first marble of the year! And it's a"shooter", lol! Anything special about this marble? Is this hole a worn out pontil hole from being handblown? I dont know much at all about marbles, but I have quite a few lol. This one looks old though and the hole in it appears to have started as more than just a chip. I like it, ill keep it lol! I have another post to do from another one of my hunting sites. I found several very cool and instantly IDENTIFIABLE civil war relics, other than minie balls( not that I dont love those too!) Along with some other old items most likely related to the civil war battle. Definitely worthy of a separate post as it pertains to an ongoing OFFICIAL investigation I am doing on several sites, but one in particular right now. I am working with the author of THE book on the battle that took place in this town and all the fortifications, hospitals, etc are listed. Maybe even adding to the book if any significant discoveries are made! He claimed in the book, and on the phone, alot of the sites are gone to developing noww or on their way, but plenty may still be hiding under all the English ivy, in the deep hollers, and even right under our noses all over the area! We must find them and have them protected Jr atleast recorded properly before they are all lost! In willing to put my time and effort into it for sure! More happened in this small town than is recorded in basic history, I can tell you that much for sure. An armory was located here for example, there are several slightly conflicting reports of its exact location, but there is no definitive answer or evidence. I am working with the author's extensive knowledge of the recorded locations etc and trying to find physical evidence with my metal detectors and sifters etc. To help prove or disprove the theories and save the artifacts and locations we are left with today. He has been out to several of these unmapped sites on foot and personally he could find no evidence above ground in most cases. I am now going to these same places, with full permission of course, and taking a look BELOW ground with my equipment. It's an honor to detect these places to me. Im really hoping to make a significant contribution to the history of my area during the civil war. Maybe even be a major contributer to the rewriting of the history of the battle. Or atleast the updated version, lol. Permanent recognition and I could save a historical site maybe more for generations to come... that's MY kind of treasure hunting for sure. With a purpose! There are atleast 1 hospital and an armory known to have existsd that the exact sites are unknown. Also lots of recorded and word of mouth stories of artillery positions and trenches etc that have been spotted by hunters, hikers and even boy scouts over the past 120+ years, but never excavated or properly mapped and recorded. The author is even sharing VALUABLE information about where dirt has been moved from the battlesite and even where it was moved too. While it will be mixed up, it gives me new places to hunt that arent even recorded as civil war sites! But most of that's being saved for my own private hunts. Maybe posting tonight, probably tomorrow though. I may even be back on site in the woods tomorrow if the weather cooperates. I cant wait to see what has washed out after all this dumping rain we've had and the creeks and rivers go back down, wouldn't be surprised to find some arrowheads out there too! I have about 2 acres of freshly cleared land just a few hundred feet from my house where they are clearing a home site in the valley along the creek. I asked the guys working for permission to kick around and they told me to just come before or after they leave, No problem! I'll try to remember to get some video of some of these hunts for my youtube channel, but I'm an "in the moment" kinda guy lol. Rarely think to take pic or vid in the field... but I know I really should! Hopefully one of of you guys knows what this possible railroad iron part is right away, itd help me sleep better tonight lol. If you know anything about the rock, or who specifically I can contact etc to find out more, that's appreciated as well! Thanks for all the support guys and as always, Safe and happy hunting to all!
Jim Brown
Bonez C&C 20200202_142227.jpg 20200202_142220.jpg 20200202_142156.jpg received_178709066699535.jpeg 20200203_172650.jpg 20200203_172722.jpg 20200203_172703.jpg 20200203_172727.jpg
 

Upvote 9

GopherDaGold

Silver Member
Dec 12, 2009
2,817
3,356
St. Charles County, Missouri
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Bounty Hunter Land Star, Teknetics Delta 4000, Minelab Equinox 600, Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Interesting finds but very difficult to read so I had to skip over the wall of text to see the photos.
 

OP
OP
MrMarsHill

MrMarsHill

Full Member
Jan 15, 2019
168
528
Mars Hill NC
Detector(s) used
Garrett ACE 300, current main user.
Garret AT Propointer, current main user.
Garrett GTAX750, classic machine and I love it!
Bounty hunter tracker iv, missing knob bought used on eBay... Still find
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
@GopherDaGold... I've been known to ramble man lol . Feel free to skip whatever you want, most of it is just detailed info. Thanks for the support. Maybe my next post will be more appealing to you, I know the finds are much higher caliber. I feel most people like the whole story, all the derails, am I wrong on that? I can keep my details minimal in the future... if that is what people prefer?
I'm still no expert on this site for sure haha.
 

Doubter in MD

Bronze Member
Jan 18, 2013
2,105
2,933
Maryland
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
@GopherDaGold... I've been known to ramble man lol . Feel free to skip whatever you want, most of it is just detailed info. Thanks for the support. Maybe my next post will be more appealing to you, I know the finds are much higher caliber. I feel most people like the whole story, all the derails, am I wrong on that? I can keep my details minimal in the future... if that is what people prefer?
I'm still no expert on this site for sure haha.

I admit that I skipped over most of your text and just looked at the pics. A few paragraph breaks would probably make it look a little less intimidating but I say type away! Many people do enjoy the back story. Those who don't wont' read it. I'll read it more thoroughly once I'm home. (Not at work.)
 

DCMatt

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2006
10,356
13,478
Herndon Virginia
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600, EX II, & Musketeer, White's Classic
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Paragraphs, PLEASE!

I got about 6 lines into your ramble and my attention deficit kicked in. I went straight to the pictures...

So, for future posts, give us a brief summary, then pics, then you can write your novel.

And if you want/need stuff identified, please post in the 'What is it?" forum.
 

GopherDaGold

Silver Member
Dec 12, 2009
2,817
3,356
St. Charles County, Missouri
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Bounty Hunter Land Star, Teknetics Delta 4000, Minelab Equinox 600, Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
@GopherDaGold... I've been known to ramble man lol . Feel free to skip whatever you want, most of it is just detailed info. Thanks for the support. Maybe my next post will be more appealing to you, I know the finds are much higher caliber. I feel most people like the whole story, all the derails, am I wrong on that? I can keep my details minimal in the future... if that is what people prefer?
I'm still no expert on this site for sure haha.

We WANT the stories! You can type as much as you want but as another member mentioned, some paragraph breaks would make it easier on these old eyes of mine.
 

ticndig

Silver Member
Apr 17, 2009
3,137
7,329
Cumberland Va
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
T-2-SE
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Please don't take this as picking as I mean you no harm ..BUT if you get caught trespassing on railroad property and picking up stuff on the railroad ,they will burn your butt . I hear federal court is no fun.
 

devldog

Silver Member
Mar 9, 2012
3,632
6,313
Georgia
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT ALL PRO, Minelab Safari
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Nice finds. You just reminded me that I need to go through a bucket of iron that I pulled from the river. I went magnet fishing in the river where a railroad trestle bridge was destroyed by Federal Cavalry during the War of Northern Aggression. I pulled a lot of spikes and a few coupler pins and some other pieces I need to get identified. I have always wanted to find a Sherman Bow Tie: a piece of railroad tracks bent by some of Uncle Billy's boys. That would be one cool find.
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,424
Massachusetts
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Thank you for sharing! :occasion14:
 

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