Part of a railroad?

[historyraider]

Hello, first post but been metal detecting for the past year or so.

I found this next to what looks like an old railroad but I haven't the foggiest what this item is.

Any ideas?

Thanks and I appreciate any feedback.

 

[Dakota Digger]

Looks like a rail anchor. Used to keep the rail from sliding.....

 

[Produce Guy]

Welcome from Texas

 

[Yard Digger]

Photo Resized
Happy Hunting,
Yard Digger

 

[Bunker]

Cool find! Welcome from Florida
HH,
Bunker

 

[Gary66]

I know the threads old but all these views and not many guesses...lol

Figured I'd give it a shot.

Never saw one before but from what I can imagine looking at that.

There would have been a very heavy wooden handle coming up thru the bottom.
I believe that the right side of the pic...the open end was used to jam up under the spike in the tie to loosen it.
The left side if the pic was used after spinning the tool around and prying the spike up and out of the tie.
The handle probably broke and they tossed it aside and never picked it up to repair.

Just a guess.
Gary

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Interesting relic, I've spent a lot of time around old railroads and I can't remember seeing anything like it. I don't think it's a spike puller though, for a couple reasons. First all of them I have seen are made completely of steel and look more like a giant crowbar. I can't imagine they'd have one with a wooden handle. The other thing is, it looks like it's cast iron, rather than steel, and I think it would be too brittle for that kind of use.

You might want to send pics to a railroad museum and see if anyone can help. The problem is that things along the tracks could literally come from almost anywhere. It could have fallen out of a gondola full of scrap iron, hard to say.

 

[Gary66]

The early stuff wouldn't have been all steel but I know exactly what you're talking about.

Here's a pic of a antique spike puller hammer and it has a wooden handle.

But of course you could be right...I've run across all kinda strange stuff that's fallen off the trains.


HH
Gary