Also,everyone should make note, taking railroad spikes from along the tracks is not okay. You should be buying them if you intend to use them for any purpose.
seriously?
Yes, when I worked for the railroad, they said it in one of our seminars. Scrap or loose is not okay to take.
Also if you are in the right-of-way (private property) without a flag man it is considered "fouling the tracks"
and trespassing.
Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.
yes, I remember learning that was a no no at my first surveying job ever, way back in 1992.
You should be buying them if you intend to use them for any purpose.
Buying them from someone else that walked along and picked them up? At least you have deniability.
A lot of nails and bearing tree tags are aluminum for this reason.
Old ones cost extra, from what I am told. Apparently, the older ones have a higher carbon content, and can be used to make knives, tools, etc.
@not-my-real-name Yep, I did some work inside RR R/W and we all had to attend a half day seminar and take an easy test so we got a sticker to put on our hardhats. In the field we were accompanied a RR guy with a horn, flag & radio who was in charge of us. I remember 2 things, *never* step on a rail, always step over it. And if the horn/flag went off, move away from the tracks and trundle all your gear with you (even setup transits) to the designated safe spot poste haste. That was on a busy mainline.
An interesting contrast was in the '70s when working for the USFS we got a permit to drive up and down Meacham Grade, a steep and little used line with only 1 or so trains a week, to access a remote part of the forest for GLO rehab. They explained the semaphore signals, where pull offs were, etc. We used a Ford Bronco which was beat to sh*t by riding the RR ties for ten miles each way for weeks. To get to the worksite we dove off the railroad into a creek and after two miles of the gnarliest deep fast water 4wheeling experience I've participated in could get to our spike camp. My clearest memory is we would attach metal location placards to trees at corners and within a few days woodpeckers would peck them at dawn to wake everybody up. Bong bong bong, it was very irritating, and made the placards illegible quickly. The Bronco, later sadly had the rear part of the body spectacularly fall off due to broken welds from the pummelling. Really good times. I'm not dissing the Bronco; I was astounded each time we made the trip that it kept on chugging and grunting no matter how much we abused it.
Keep your mask on and they'll never catch you.
Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.
Around here along new r/w, trees are about all there is to set BMs along the way until a highway or railroad or pipeline is crossed.
We would set a 60d nail or RR spike low on the tree above the root clump if possible.
We would also get an elevation on top of any monuments found along the way or at the threshold of houses.
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I'll take my chance fouling the tracks without a flagman next time. We did a recent project where we needed 1200' of topo within the CSX ROW, not even near the tracks. Cost $4000 for the application and insurance - yeah, we already carry insurance, but needed their special secret insurance. And then $1500 for the flagman for the day. Bargain.
And I think that fouling the tracks can be with or without a flagman. It's being on the tracks or within a certain distance of a rail. 4 or 5', something like that.
fouling the tracks.
49 CFR ?? 220.5 - Definitions
Fouling a track means the placement of an individual in such proximity to a track that the individual could be struck by a moving train?ÿor other on-track equipment, or in any case is within four feet of the nearest rail.
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Railroads are the 500 pound gorilla, and make things as hard as possible for others.
I'll take my chance fouling the tracks without a flagman next time.?ÿ We did a recent project where we needed 1200' of topo within the CSX ROW, not even near the tracks.?ÿ Cost $4000 for the application and insurance - yeah, we already carry insurance, but needed their special secret insurance.?ÿ And then $1500 for the flagman for the day.?ÿ Bargain.
I knew a guy with the same attitude.?ÿ Emphasis on the past tense?ÿ?ÿ
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175518104/thomas-e_-shelly
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He was obviously close to the tracks, and visibility was poor.
But I don't see the justification for the attitude that being 49 ft from the track in a +/-50 ft ROW, where some benchmarks are, is a serious problem.
Raise your hand if you've never worked on a RR ROW or track, safely, with no incident or threat of incident
I've had flagmen similar to detail cops, who just sat in their vehicles and napped.
Sometimes you need them, in a busy roadway, or section of track, a blind curve, etc. Other times, it's just regulation.