Bavaria Mike
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2005
- Messages
- 8,340
- Reaction score
- 177
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Bavaria Germany
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab XT70, Fisher 1280, Garrett Ace 250 and MH5
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I called my detecting buddy today to see how he was doing and told him I was thinking of exploring an abandoned railroad track from the 1870s that is slowly being dismantled. Asked if he was interested in searching for some date nails with me, since it is frozen and we can’t detect he was up for it but did not know what date nails were. We met up and drove to the tracks, I wanted to go north since I have explored the southern part a little but, the farther north we went the more snow covered the ground so we went back down south. Went to a few small bridges and road crossings as these are the only areas where wooden RR ties are used, Germans used iron RR ties from the late 1800s on, the wooden RR ties made maintenance easier from what I understand. Here’s one of the small bridges we explored.
I was glad when we found a few date nails and my friend was able to pull a few, 1962 was his earliest. We had found a small pile of wooden ties near a bridge and I was able to pull a 1925 date nail, my earliest from this RR line. A little history about the explorations here. I stopped by a railroad maintenance crew several years ago along the tracks as they were dismantling the tracks and asked if I could search the wooden RR ties for date nails, after a lot of explaining as to what date nails were they said yes, no problem and also directed me to a small depot where they were storing the track parts for recycling. I was able to pull a few nails from the depot. They also told me that the tracks north will all be dismantled and recycled as time permits and many areas have been disassembled. Those iron ties are about 2’ tall by the way.
The oldest iron RR tie we found was from 1884, here is a picture of it.
Along the line is a telegraph type system or maybe a signaling system that signaled the lights to turn on and gates to drop across the road crossings when a train approached. You can also see that the lines have been cut. Two strands of pure solid copper wire runs along the line.
These poles also had date nails from the 1950s, but a little different style of nail. The latest date nails were from 1967 on most and a few with 1980.
Here are the date nails from the poles, 3 pronged and the head is the size of an American Nickel.
Side view of the pole nails and the attachment prongs.
Top view of a few of the railroad tie date nails I pulled, 1985, 1962 and my early 1925. My buddy found a porcelain chicken egg intact along the RR tracks and showed it to me, I thought it was real and said get rid of that stinky thing so he dropped it on an iron tie, it shattered and I said what the heck is that? Probably just a fake egg for chickens to encourage laying, had I put it in my hand I would have realized what it was as my wife’s hobby is raising chickens and ducks.
We had arrived back at the jeep after exploring a length of tracks. I told my buddy there was a road crossing just a few hundred meters away so we decided to check it out. I also warned there were several houses along the way but we both did not think it would be a problem. We found a few wooden ties before the road crossing and pulled a few date nails from the 60s. I had a bad feeling about this being in the backyard of houses along the old tracks, just as we approached the road crossing the police showed up. My buddy was pulling a nail and I said the police are here, he said you’re full of it, I said really, there’s a police car that just pulled up at the road crossing, stop what you are doing and look, oh CRAP!!! We did some explaining, the police said why are you doing this on Sunday and not through the week? Because he goes to college and I have to work. The report to the police was two thugs or gruff characters were walking the tracks with weapons, my buddy had a full sized crow bar and I had a small 10” crow bar with a small hammer. They warned us that we had frightened the neighborhood, not that we were illegal and that no normal person would be doing such a thing on Sunday. They took our names and addresses and I hope nothing comes of this as apparently, we can be charged for trespassing but they do not know by who as they are not sure if the railroad still owns this. I did say who else would own a railroad track as I kicked the side of the track? I hope nothing comes of this and I do not get some kind of fine. Unfortunately, Germans will not hesitate to call the police on their neighbors when something seems out of place, which is why Hitler so easily took over the country. Must be the over 2000 years of civilization that has caused this. Americans have a saying here, every German is an off duty policeman. I am so glad I have no neighbors! HH, Mike
I was glad when we found a few date nails and my friend was able to pull a few, 1962 was his earliest. We had found a small pile of wooden ties near a bridge and I was able to pull a 1925 date nail, my earliest from this RR line. A little history about the explorations here. I stopped by a railroad maintenance crew several years ago along the tracks as they were dismantling the tracks and asked if I could search the wooden RR ties for date nails, after a lot of explaining as to what date nails were they said yes, no problem and also directed me to a small depot where they were storing the track parts for recycling. I was able to pull a few nails from the depot. They also told me that the tracks north will all be dismantled and recycled as time permits and many areas have been disassembled. Those iron ties are about 2’ tall by the way.
The oldest iron RR tie we found was from 1884, here is a picture of it.
Along the line is a telegraph type system or maybe a signaling system that signaled the lights to turn on and gates to drop across the road crossings when a train approached. You can also see that the lines have been cut. Two strands of pure solid copper wire runs along the line.
These poles also had date nails from the 1950s, but a little different style of nail. The latest date nails were from 1967 on most and a few with 1980.
Here are the date nails from the poles, 3 pronged and the head is the size of an American Nickel.
Side view of the pole nails and the attachment prongs.
Top view of a few of the railroad tie date nails I pulled, 1985, 1962 and my early 1925. My buddy found a porcelain chicken egg intact along the RR tracks and showed it to me, I thought it was real and said get rid of that stinky thing so he dropped it on an iron tie, it shattered and I said what the heck is that? Probably just a fake egg for chickens to encourage laying, had I put it in my hand I would have realized what it was as my wife’s hobby is raising chickens and ducks.
We had arrived back at the jeep after exploring a length of tracks. I told my buddy there was a road crossing just a few hundred meters away so we decided to check it out. I also warned there were several houses along the way but we both did not think it would be a problem. We found a few wooden ties before the road crossing and pulled a few date nails from the 60s. I had a bad feeling about this being in the backyard of houses along the old tracks, just as we approached the road crossing the police showed up. My buddy was pulling a nail and I said the police are here, he said you’re full of it, I said really, there’s a police car that just pulled up at the road crossing, stop what you are doing and look, oh CRAP!!! We did some explaining, the police said why are you doing this on Sunday and not through the week? Because he goes to college and I have to work. The report to the police was two thugs or gruff characters were walking the tracks with weapons, my buddy had a full sized crow bar and I had a small 10” crow bar with a small hammer. They warned us that we had frightened the neighborhood, not that we were illegal and that no normal person would be doing such a thing on Sunday. They took our names and addresses and I hope nothing comes of this as apparently, we can be charged for trespassing but they do not know by who as they are not sure if the railroad still owns this. I did say who else would own a railroad track as I kicked the side of the track? I hope nothing comes of this and I do not get some kind of fine. Unfortunately, Germans will not hesitate to call the police on their neighbors when something seems out of place, which is why Hitler so easily took over the country. Must be the over 2000 years of civilization that has caused this. Americans have a saying here, every German is an off duty policeman. I am so glad I have no neighbors! HH, Mike
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