my train track anvil

[bczygan]

That reminds me that I have a couple of 2' or 3' pieces out back, kind of rusty.

I know I've had them for a few years, at least.

Wish I could remember where I got them...

Bill

 

[PugetDude]

You can buy industrial crane rail at many steel service centers.

The profile is a bit different than Railroad Rail, but it's readily available and works very well. Unlike surplus RR rails, it's new, hasn't been work-hardened yet, so is fairly easy to burn, cut and grind.

 

[Iggi]

I need to find a piece of track like that. You always need a good place to beat on stuff without worry of damaging something.

 

[Craptain]

I have 4 pieces of track. 2 came from garage sales and 2 from flea market. Just keep your eyes open and something will turn up. I also have a friend who is a railroad contractor who is willing to get me as much as I want whenever he has another job in the State.
Most railroad companies will not sell anything simply because it is too complicated. It is not illegal to have track if you can show how you got it, preferably with reciepts.

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[deejaaa]

Came out great. I used black hammertone paint on mine

thanks for the tip. i used hammertone on it tonight and it really finished it off.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Man I like yours deejaaa.
The small track is from like an amusement park train. I have a small chunk that I got at a yard sale and another piece of full size track again that I got from a yard sale.

 

[555]

I had a 14" piece for many years. It was made by a friend and he used his cutting torch to rough shape it and grinder to finish it. A nice sturdy piece. Somewhere in one of our many moves (retired military) it went missing.

 

[WWShop]

I acquired these from where I used to work. There was two sets of tracks that went past our shop and the workers on the RR left these in our shop, no one cared that I grabbed them so I brought them home. I wasn't there but one day the train derailed near the shop, fortunately no one was hurt.

 

[maxpower_hd]

I have several pieces. I had more at one point and gave some away. I use them as weight for the back of my Toyota plow truck in the winter. I may try to make and anvil out of one of them.

I got them from a building that was being demolished at work and tracks were used to roll a very large steel/lead door open and closed. These were the left over pieces from building that and were just laying behind the building.

I'm not sure it is really illegal since there is more than one railroad company that could possibly own them and there are other legal uses besides railroads. And in my case there are no markings whatsoever on them so no one could prove ownership with or without any receipt or documentation. So it would be a tough conviction no matter what.

I have heard people say it is illegal but unless you are trying to scrap a trailer load of them I don't think anyone is going to ask anything at all. The last time I scrapped steal they didn't even look at it. They simply had me drive over the scales full and empty. I did have to show a license when I went in but no one ever looked at the load.

 

[Jackfre]

I have about a 7-8' section that was here when I bought the property. I need to cut it up just so I can handle it. 8' of track has some heft to it.

Nice work on those anvils

 

[deejaaa]

here's the final finished pics. when it cures, i will mark it up with some work i have planned. have already started making a tool for the slot in the back.

 

[Craptain]

Looks good right now but as you realize that won't last long in use. I would probably have taped off and left the working surfaces bare, maybe even polished. Now I am waiting to see the tool you are making.

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[Yourfired]

Great work Deejaaa! That anvil looks ten time better than it did before. You guys are all inspiring me to go find an old rusted one and restore it myself.

 

[JunkJunky]

I spent some time working track labor for a shortline RR and my first goal as a new employee was to make an anvil... so I did. Wish I had a picture to post. I torch cut to shape, then ground with angle grinder, and finished off with belt sander of various grades of sand paper.

Work hardening of the rail only happens within the head, or contact area of wheel and flange. Drilling and machining of base is ok, but I would discourage any machining of the head. Grinding of head is not much more difficult. Torch cutting is same as any equivalent block of steel. You just need lots of heat to start the burn.

We had theft of alot of stock piled steel, mostly tie plates and small items one person could carry. Most rail went straight to the scrap pile because any piece of shorter than 33.5' wasn't much good to us. Our scrap pile was next to our shop were theft was unlikely. I highly discourage any removal of any RR property without permission. Not only is it theft, but it could be pushed to a Federal crime easily due to focus on terrorism and so on. I know it sounds rediculous...but FBI/RR discussion of terror threats started well before 9/11.

Scrap yards aren't supposed to take RR related scrap, and they most likley will ignore onesies and twosies, they are looking for the obvious thiefs that show up with a trailer of rail or buckets of spikes and plates that obvioulsy came out of a yard somewhere.

Most rail is continuosly welded now so track doesn't see the abuse that it would in jointed stick form. We had to religiously cut out defects that were usually in the ends. However, short lines, spur lines, service tracks and GRADE CROSSINGS still require insulated joints for electrical circuits to operate the grade signals. Look for grade crossing repair work and you may find a couple stub ends that may be available. In my experience, we were glad to help out a fellow enthusiast with short pieces vs. hauling them back with us.

Awesome work guys! Great to see projects come to life.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Why wouldn't the railroad or its rail contractor sell the scrap pieces as potential anvils for more than scrap price? Sell them in 12", 14", 18", 20" and 24" lengths. Would make sense to me this would be a great way to get rid of the scrap for more money than scrap prices.

 

[PugetDude]

Why wouldn't the railroad or its rail contractor sell the scrap pieces as potential anvils for more than scrap price? Sell them in 12", 14", 18", 20" and 24" lengths. Would make sense to me this would be a great way to get rid of the scrap for more money than scrap prices.

Because some ******* would sue them when he smashed his thumb pounding on a railroad track anvil.

 

[toolmiser]

Because some ******* would sue them when he smashed his thumb pounding on a railroad track anvil.

Stores are beginning to get rid of non rubber hammers also.

 

[specialev]

They just replaced the tracks by my work and I drove up and down the line looking for their scrap pile and got a brand new ~1' long cut end. I also got to watch the workers **** weld two tracks together with thermite. Very cool.

 

[deejaaa]

here's the one I finished today. 1" ball bearing welded to square stock. used to put it in the vise but no more.


here's a rr spike i plan to modify.


a 2" rr bolt that was sheared in half. started this piece next.

 

[got2boostit2]

Good stuff, I was cutting grass over by Pops house and found a two foot piece of track outside his back garage. Guess what it will become?

 

[BFBOB]

I nearly had heart failure, thinking you had that nasty, rusty lump sitting on a granite surface plate!!
Then I spotted the seams in the Formica ... the relief ...

 

[deejaaa]

thanks for all the tips and comments. good stuff.
here is the bolt i reworked. started to make the surface rounded but my daughter suggested to flatten it, so i did.
rounded:

flattened:

no welding yet. need to build it up a little to tighten the fit.

knocked the paint off with a wire wheel, as suggested.

 

[58Yeoman]

That looks like a hitch pin. I was surprised that they break so easily. One thing I had to do when I worked at the tank farm, was to inspect all the tank cars. I'd find the hitch pin broken, and have to replace it before it left. I found a couple plastic ones once.

 

[deejaaa]

That looks like a hitch pin. I was surprised that they break so easily. .........

never thought of that but it makes sense. i just figured it had something to do with the track. this was found in the middle of nowhere.

 

[nevercouldfigureitout]

I've got one but not nearly as pretty as some on here, I'll post pics tomorrow to add mine to the pile.

 

[58Yeoman]

never thought of that but it makes sense. i just figured it had something to do with the track. this was found in the middle of nowhere.

Knuckle pin.

http://www.rrtoolsnsolutions.com/CarMaintenance/c10knucklepin.asp

 

[deejaaa]

Knuckle pin.

http://www.rrtoolsnsolutions.com/CarMaintenance/c10knucklepin.asp

thanks. just what it is. lots of good stuff on that site.

 

[nevercouldfigureitout]

Here's mine, doesn't look super nice but eventually I'll refine it but works great.

 

[jeff lary]

Boy you guys made some very nice looking units there.

 

[Voi]

I'll refine it but works great.

I've been starting at my railroad section and trying to decide which way to go with it. It seems like a lot take the time to make the top flat but I look at those edges and I can see tapping a piece of sheet metal over that curve.

So since you say you're works great, do you like have the curved edges?

 

[nevercouldfigureitout]

I've been starting at my railroad section and trying to decide which way to go with it. It seems like a lot take the time to make the top flat but I look at those edges and I can see tapping a piece of sheet metal over that curve.

So since you say you're works great, do you like have the curved edges?

Yes, I really like the curves to help bend on different things. Also the back under side has a great curve I like a lot. Sometimes I have it mounted to a board to help with stability but for the most part I just keep it laying around so I can flip an maneuver it around to be a lil versatile. For flat striking I bolt it to a board to settle it.

 

[sberry]

The little track is for little trains.

 

[Hephaestus29]

Can you cut RR track with a bandsaw or ?
How hard is it ?

 

[Warrenator]

Picked up this guy at a local swap meet, $25. Seems to be pretty old, very very pitted. The track itself is a bit unsymmetrical, I think it was made that way so the top is not perfectly flat. It had remnants of silver paint on it so I repainted it with rustoleum aluminum paint when I was done, out of respect to whoever made this originally. The top is bare metal, I only painted the sides where the huge deep rust pits are. It shined up very well.

Flame cut hardie hole and mounting holes, the horn is ground so symmetrically I don't think I could improve it or ever make another one like it. The top is very hard, I used a 60 grit flap wheel on a grinder to clean it up a bit and it did remove surface rust but left no sanding scratches at all. Wish it was a little flatter and smoother on top, I am using it for sheet metal and it does transfer some of the pits to the work when you hammer. Need to find a place that will mill or surface grind it for me.

It does rebound very well when hammering and rings. For whatever that is worth.

 

[PugetDude]

Picked up this guy at a local swap meet, $25. Seems to be pretty old, very very pitted. The track itself is a bit unsymmetrical, I think it was made that way so the top is not perfectly flat. It had remnants of silver paint on it so I repainted it with rustoleum aluminum paint when I was done, out of respect to whoever made this originally. The top is bare metal, I only painted the sides where the huge deep rust pits are. It shined up very well.

Flame cut hardie hole and mounting holes, the horn is ground so symmetrically I don't think I could improve it or ever make another one like it. The top is very hard, I used a 60 grit flap wheel on a grinder to clean it up a bit and it did remove surface rust but left no sanding scratches at all. Wish it was a little flatter and smoother on top, I am using it for sheet metal and it does transfer some of the pits to the work when you hammer. Need to find a place that will mill or surface grind it for me.

It does rebound very well when hammering and rings. For whatever that is worth.

Nice find- it's small enough that you can get the top smooth and flat. A 60-grit flap wheel should be your next-to-last last step, not the first. Start with a quality grinding disc. Take your time and use a straightedge, a combination square, and a pair of winding sticks to ensure you stay flat and level When the pits are gone, work your way from the coarse grinding disk to a 36 grit flap wheel to your 60 grit flap wheel.

Unless you know someone who'll do it for free, having it Blanchard-ground at a machine shop will probably cost more than a new anvil...

 

[Mike.ASC]

What do you guys use to cut these to retrieve a useable piece from a long piece out in the middle of nowhere?

 

[Warrenator]

Thanks PugetDude, I will give it a try leveling and flattening this anvil. Looks like slow work.

Mike.ASC, they make 4 1/2" angle grinders that are battery powered, a cutoff wheel and a grinder would probably be the most portable solution for a middle of nowhere retrieval. They cut real fast considering how hard and thick the material is. Plasma or flame cutting would obviously be faster but not so portable.

I have a nice scar on my leg from using a cutoff wheel and a grinder to cut some bed frame steel. The disc bound up in the cut and the whole tool hopped out of my hand and banged me in the leg. As I said, they cut real good and fast. Hold the tool very carefully and try to work square and evenly so the disc doesn't bind.

 

[MScott]

What do you guys use to cut these to retrieve a useable piece from a long piece out in the middle of nowhere?

Just be sure that long piece isn't part of an in use rail-road line.

 

[BuickFarmer]

What do you guys use to cut these to retrieve a useable piece from a long piece out in the middle of nowhere?

I cut mine with my concrete saw with a metal blade. You can rent one for a half day. Be careful not to set the woods on fire with the flying sparks. I only managed to set my pants leg on fire. Thought I smelled something burning then felt my ankle burning and looked down and the bottom of my pants leg was flaming.

 

[Hephaestus29]

Picked up this guy at a local swap meet, $25. Seems to be pretty old, very very pitted. The track itself is a bit unsymmetrical, I think it was made that way so the top is not perfectly flat. It had remnants of silver paint on it so I repainted it with rustoleum aluminum paint when I was done, out of respect to whoever made this originally. The top is bare metal, I only painted the sides where the huge deep rust pits are. It shined up very well.

Flame cut hardie hole and mounting holes, the horn is ground so symmetrically I don't think I could improve it or ever make another one like it. The top is very hard, I used a 60 grit flap wheel on a grinder to clean it up a bit and it did remove surface rust but left no sanding scratches at all. Wish it was a little flatter and smoother on top, I am using it for sheet metal and it does transfer some of the pits to the work when you hammer. Need to find a place that will mill or surface grind it for me.

It does rebound very well when hammering and rings. For whatever that is worth.

Could you set that up under a radial arm saw with a grinding wheel on it to get rid of the pitting ? I know it's radial arm saw and not a grinder, but for this I don't believe it has to be T totally perfect, and I think it would work pretty good.