Lead Seal? What do you think? Any Rail Road history buffs?

[ROIGuy]

Calling all history buffs and antique aficionados.. I'm stumped. Went metal detecting over at some local baseball fields where they're installing a new 5 foot diameter water main pipe.. so they're digging down about 8-10 feet to bury it and there's a lot of clay and dirt they've dug up and have to haul away. Found this. I think it's some sort of seal or token. On one side it has the initials J.& N. R. R. And on the opposite side it has an H over the number 132. It is somewhat heavy for it's size and appears to be a metal with a slightly pinkish cast.

(Upon further reflection, I think it may be L. & N. R. R..what say you?)

Any ideas??

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Looks like a bale seal.

 

[pepperj]

Doesn't seem to be a listing for any J, though there is for a https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_and_Nashville_Railroad

It's a great looking bale seal.

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Mackaydon]

Maybe the letters are I and N, not J and N.
Consider the Iola and Northern RR that ran in your neighboring state of Wisconsin.
Don....

 

[ROIGuy]

So far, I've gotten that the object in question happens to be a "bale seal" of some sort for the Louisiana & Nashville Railroad.
If that's the case, I'm still researching just what it was used for and what do the numbers on it refer to..
If anyone knows, please feel free to post...
Thanks for watching.

 

[bonepicker]

Looks like L &N railroad
louisville and nashville

 

[CRUSADER]

So far, I've gotten that the object in question happens to be a "bale seal" of some sort for the Louisiana & Nashville Railroad.
If that's the case, I'm still researching just what it was used for and what do the numbers on it refer to..
If anyone knows, please feel free to post...
Thanks for watching.

Its not a 'bale seal' if it sealed a railway carriage door.

 

[ROIGuy]

I haven't gotten this definitively answered yet. I'll put this one in the unsolved mysteries category until I do ������.
Strange that even the L&N Railroad historical society can't even tell me for sure the history of this item. It has an 'H132' number on the back side.
That must mean something

 

[Centsless Detecting]

Maybe the letters are I and N, not J and N.
Consider the Iola and Northern RR that ran in your neighboring state of Wisconsin.
Don....

I was just in Iola last weekend. Also my daughters name. My family has a cabin there. Cool old town with an amazing car show every year. Too bad its canceled this year.

Its an interesting find for sure. Congrats!