I finished a survey on some family property this weekend. The property borders on an abandoned stretch of railroad. The railroad was ripped out many years ago and it is just a dirt road now.
As I was looking for a corner, I came across an old railroad spike (pictured below). I've never seen one that looked like this. Does anyone know what time period this type of spike was used? I haven't found anything on it on the internet so far.
Rail anchor
As Andy said, that is not a spike.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&va=rail+anchor
The J-shaped ones are more common around here.
Rail anchor is correct. These are placed alongside the ties with one end anchored to the bottom of the rail to keep the ties from moving out of position.
not sure if anchor or not
my old boss used to call those anti-creepers
> Rail anchor is correct. These are placed alongside the ties with one end anchored to the bottom of the rail to keep the ties from moving out of position.
From Army Field Manual 55-7:
7-14. Rail anchors are installed on the rail base securely against the side of the tie. Anchors are designed to resist or check the longitudinal movement of the rails under traffic. They also maintain proper expansion and contraction forces that build up in continuous welded rail (Figure 7-2). Without anchorage, the rail will run irregularly.
It sounds to me like the anchors use the ties to constrain the rail, rather than the other way around.
> not sure if anchor or not
>
> my old boss used to call those anti-creepers
Rail Anchors, "designed to eliminate creepage of track"
That's why I couldn't find anything on it. 🙂 Thanks guys.
Exactly. They keep the rail from moving or "creeping" longitudinally.
Nice. I learned something new. I always thought they were to keep the ties in place or perpendicular to the rails.
Very Difficult To Drive Into Asphalt
😉
Paul in PA
Very Difficult To Drive Into Asphalt
Yeah I thought about that. You would think that growing up along the railroad tracks in southern WV I would have paid attention to something like that, but no.