Hunting Old RR track areas question

[MD'ing Zombie]

I live in Altoona PA and there was a major hub for the PRR at the time of the Civil war. there a a are where they removed a bunch of track. guessing about as wide as a foot ball field and 3 x as long. its also near a creek. i know there was a bunch of civil war troops here for a while as there was a big meeting here of Governs and old Abe himself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Governors'_Conference.

What im getting to is, other than the Iron i know i will hit in this area....would this be worth my time to explore? not sure if anyone has hit old train track areas and what they came up with

Thx for the help

Oh i will be using a Garrets AT Pro.

 

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[Henry2]

Your area might be different but I tend to stay away from rail road tracks as they tend to be just littered with garbage. I'm sure there are some good targets but the hunt will probably be brutal.

 

[Kansas]

I stopped in Altoona a couple of years ago to watch the trains work up the "Horse Shoe". Looks to me you are in a great area. Go ahead and detect the area you have a hunch about. Yup, there will be trash, but just work around it and have fun. Good Luck !

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I have found a lot of good things hunting near the tracks. They tend to be quite trashy, but if you have the patience to work it you will most likely have good success. The site you have mentioned would be more than enough to encourage myself to at least give it a go. There is no telling what you might find.

Good Luck!

 

[K Zack]

I am new here, but not to MD,ing, I have hunted for 15 years now.
A place with that much History? I would carry off the trash in 5 gallon buckets if I had to, I would hunt it every chance I got.
If you weren’t so far away I would be Glad to Help You.

 

[Frankn]

I worked a section of narrow guage near that was used to move lumber. I found what looked like a bronz clutch plate of some sort, a break shoe and some spikes. I mounted the spikes on planks and sold them at a flea market for $10 apeace. There was a knife maker who made knives out of spikes. He said it was a high grade of steel. Through in the Civil War factor and you should have a good time. Frank

 

[TerryC]

NEVER assume an area has been cleaned out! Weldon, NC was a spot where one gauge (south) changed to another gauge (north). The station was restored a few years back. Under the porch... at the tracks... 3 civil war era rifles were found up under the porch beams! NEVER assume... it just might be YOUR TURN! TTC

 

[DigImust]

I have had good luck finding railroad tags and old date nails as well as spikes and the usual iron implements used in the RR business over the years. I search out old abandoned RR lines here in the Southwest and try to hunt at least a couple when the weather permits. Remember, if the old lines are still on RR property, they don't take kindly to tresspassing these post 9/11 days.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I have had good luck finding railroad tags and old date nails as well as spikes and the usual iron implements used in the RR business over the years. I search out old abandoned RR lines here in the Southwest and try to hunt at least a couple when the weather permits. Remember, if the old lines are still on RR property, they don't take kindly to tresspassing these post 9/11 days.

I wondered when someone was going to mention the tresspassing issue. It's really not worth going to jail or paying a fine. Good luck getting permission from the RR.

 

[MD'ing Zombie]

Yea the area is off to one side. and near open hunting areas. But as always i would get permission to hunt this area, that goes without saying.

 

[chukers]

Do not try to sell (scrap) anything railroad related (Spikes, Track, and associated hardware) Here in Texas if you are caught trying to sell it they will throw you in jail. even if its stuff that has been out there for 150 years they claim it all... it is theirs... scrap yards will turn you in! I have places where old tracks and tons of spikes are just rusting away and they are on private lands! I dare not touch them. again this is here in Texas I don't know about where you are... but i don't doubt they have the same laws.

just be careful about trespassing issues too... good luck!


Chukers

 

[Monty]

My wife worked for a shortline railway for nearly 30 years and I metal detected along it for several years. I found mostly iron and other junque but did find several coins on a jogging trail abutting the tracks. Found several makes and years of coins and even a few foreign coins. I live in Sand Springs which was originally a watering holefor cattle ddrives. But the hunt was grueling. As a matter of fact one of the engineers asked me if I had found a certain year and style lof watch, and I said,"Just like this one" and pulled it out and returned it. It was a fairly expensive make of watch and was mostly silver. It had been missing for nearly two years and was still running although it was outside in the weather all this time. He said at first that it was not his as the original leather band was missing. But I had pulled the band off due to rotting of the leather. Monty

 

[relichunters]

Detecting around old train stations is your best bet. Or any stops where people got on and off.

 

[1869er]

I also am curious about this... I know an area near me... Sort of, actually it's about an hours drive from here... I found an old map from 1934 that shows 3 train tracks all within about a mile of each other... However when I look at the same area on Google maps... 2 of the rail road tracks are totally gone. One of them, you can just barely make out where is was, cutting through a field... I mean... It's barely, barely, there... Slight discoloration in the grass of the field... If you were just walking through there, you'd never know there was a railroad there... I've been thinking of detecting these areas possibly... Actually I did check out one spot sort of nearby, near the track that's still there, and found a lot of melted metal, and a rail road spike, a silver dime, and some other stuff... I'm still researching the area.

 

[chukers]

I have hunted an old train depot 1. its a very trashy area 2. there is stuff to be found there. Be patient the stuff is there.

 

[ridger12]

I have abandon tracks that go by my house, the used run into Tyrone and when hook up with your tracks in Altoona. On the edge of my property there was a train station also. I have detected down there many times and only come up with junk. For some reason it seems that soda and beer cans sink into those old cinders really well. Spikes and other track parts are littered underground every foot. I detect around the station a few times a year but I have to stay away from the tracks to start finding old stuff. I think most older relics near the tracks got burried under cinders as trains were passing.