DETECTING DOWN AN OLD ABANDONED RAILROAD BED

[cz3djoe]

I just joined and this is my first post. I've been detecting an old abandoned railroad bed near my home in North Carolina. The railroad was used from before the Civil War until in the 1970's. All of the track and ties are gone and to look at the bed, all overgrown with trees and bushes, you wouldn't think there would be much to find. I've detected about 100 yards of the railroad bed and have found more metal than I can carry back to my car. The strange thing is, the track hardware (mostly base plates) appear in clusters about 20 feet apart down the bed. Most are burried less than six inches and I use a pick to get down through the gravel. I'm using a Fisher CZ3D detector on all metal mode. Right now I'm only digging the iron signals. Most of the base plates and all of the date nails have dates on them. The fish plates, track stabilizers, and spikes don't.

 

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[ticm]

Those dated nails are cool

 

[pa plateau hiker]

The real treasure will be when you find tools they used. I have found numerous tools along abandoned grades.

 

[Dihren]

Where are you located in NC?

 

[Gimmie The Loot]

very cool. Maybe you will find some RR padlocks or luggage tags etc... Maybe a CW relic!

 

[Moonrover]

Did you find any large corrugated nails? Every tie had them driven in the end grain to slow splitting. Corrugated nails are all over the place on an abandoned track that I walked several years ago.

M

 

[cz3djoe]

I'm located near Andrews, N C

 

[N.J.THer]

I too like the dated nails. Can you find out where the stations, depots and water towers were located? If so, I would focus on those areas.

Good luck

NJ

 

[dholland02]

Price of scrape I'd be taking all that home

 

[diggummup]

Price of scrape I'd be taking all that home

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's some nice heavy metal.

BTW- Welcome to Treasurenet Joe!

 

[Happy Harry]

Those are excelent finds. I have never,that I can remember, seen dated RR spikes. My dad worked for the Great Northers for 40+ years. I saw lots of spikes. As for scrap value, I do not know the going rate for scrap Iron/Steel. Again as a boy that is one of the ways that we made our spending money. That was to collect scrap metal. That included copper and Iron. We also went on bottle hunts looking to find Soda bottles .03 for regular size soda .05 for quart Soda. Stubby beer .01 or quart beer .03 bottles. Had to haul a lot of bottles to make much. However a snickers bar was only .05. It all adds up if you save it. HHHH

 

[stewielouie]

Scrap here is almost 12 dollars a hundred pounds. Nice finds, love those dated nails.

 

[chrisplay2004]

Nice finds so far. I love hunting abandoned railroads. Keep it up, you are on the right Track!

 

[Wldbil]

There is a pretty good market for those dated nails... They have R&R swap meets around the nation and those are big selling items. Congrats

 

[windage]

check with your scrapyard first using only one piece of "rail-road" iron...with the surge in illegal scrap scrounging, some yards will call the law if they get in a recognizable hunk-O-iron; rail plates/spikes, manhole covers, light poles, mailboxes, etc...just saying...you may have to do some 'xplainin about how you came up with all that RR iron with permission, from the current landowner, in writing....which you do have, right, right?
Good luck on your heavy metal recovery..

 

[dholland02]

Most scrap yards in my area dnt look in the beds u get on the scales, unload, get back on and get ur money. I be taking a wagon to get all I could out lol

 

[Gunrunner61]

Here in north ga. they will not except it. Says it still belongs to the railroad co. They and the railroad consider it theft. jmho, but you better check it out I'd hate to see you get arrested for just trying to scrap junk iron........Good luck and let us know how it turns out, BTW I used to live in Walhalla S.C. Done alot of rock hunting in your area....................HH

 

[diggummup]

Good points on the scrap yards. Depends on where your at I guess.

 

[AC1955]

Anyone know if abandoned tracks or rail beds are still RR property? I'd be very, very careful of hunting along them. Railroad companies do prosecute. You will be fined, lose your detector and everything you find. The railroads NEVER lose. I know we've had the RR discussion here before, RR owns tracks, buildings and 25-50 feet on either side of tracks. They grant "permission" for people to cross at specified crossings, otherwise, stay off their property. Up here in New England there is a rails to trails movement for turning defunct RR tracks into trails for horseback riding, snowmobiles, ATVs, biking, etc. The one here in my town is maintained by the recreation committee and a local snowmobile club and is no longer considered RR property. (Haven't hunted it yet, but plan to when the weather gets cooler).

Just be careful...ignorance of the law is no defense.

Welcome to TNet and HH (Happy Hunting).
Anita

 

[cjon455]

I know in my area railbeds are off limits. there is actually a railroad police truck that patrols the railbed. But weve had alot of scrap theft from the trainyard and railbeds. Our crackheads do anything for a fix around here, they were even breaking into flooded out houses and stealing all the copper pipes n wiring out of them, yeah we have a high class crackhead population. I think scrapyards should be more observant of their clientele, and what their bringing in.