Train Track Rail

[TexMedium]

Regarding the legalities of "owning" a piece of rail, well the FBI isn't going to come knocking on your door about it. However, most REPUTABLE scrap yards will not touch anything that would be identifiable as "railroad materials", unless you had some documentation of ownership. Roll onto a scale with a pick-up bed full of old spikes, tie plates, joint bars, pieces of rail, etc., and the assumption will be you stole it while trespassing. A pity really, the railroads tend to leave that stuff lay where it falls, as it costs to much to pick it up. And it goes to waste...

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I have few RR tools that need to come out of the closet. But this one has a story behind my father in-law. He started working in the Kentucky deep mines when he was just in his mid-teens. When he got older, he and his brothers went eastern Ky and worked the deep mines every day for a few years and did good but hated it for safety reasons. He remembers driving past Butcher Holler every day to get to work. And he also remembers watching Loretta Lynn and her sisters singing at the bar on weekends. Now years later he and his brothers revisited the mine and some old friends. His old boss gives him this rail bender.

But here lately we were going to donate it to a deep mine museum but several at the museum declare it is a very old mid 18 century Railroad bender. They explained that after the railroad got done with wooden rails that they used metal, and this is one of the first benders. I also showed these pictures to a railroad museum, and they confirmed it to be a railroad rail bender from the mid 1800s during the civil war. True Story.

 

[dogdog]

make some knifes ....

 

[Beemer]

Regarding the legalities of "owning" a piece of rail, well the FBI isn't going to come knocking on your door about it. However, most REPUTABLE scrap yards will not touch anything that would be identifiable as "railroad materials", unless you had some documentation of ownership. Roll onto a scale with a pick-up bed full of old spikes, tie plates, joint bars, pieces of rail, etc., and the assumption will be you stole it while trespassing. A pity really, the railroads tend to leave that stuff lay where it falls, as it costs to much to pick it up. And it goes to waste...

We used rails all the time for overhead cranes in building construction.
They are a rolled structural steel product that the RR just happens to use one of the available sizes.

 

[TexMedium]

Bridge rail, or crane rail, is a decidedly different product from railroad rail. Because it is usually continuously supported by the crane structure, bridge rail will have smaller base and a shorter vertical profile. It will also, usually, have a much bigger and flatter rail head. Think, "lots of material to wear before we have to replace." The flatter head is possible because the rail doesn't have to account for the differential of wheels on curves. It also reduces that wear. Any scrap yard scale man will know the difference. At a REPUTABLE scrap yard you WILL be asked for documentation of ownership of obvious railroad material. Or you will be asked to leave, as REPUTABLE scrap dealers don't want to get involved in stolen property.

"Just one of the available sizes." has nothing to do with it.

 

[four.cycle]

@Mike'smeatshop -

There were different models of that device made. Here's one of them:

1903 Schwabacher Hardware Co. catalog railroad tools pp 66

Can you help me out with the words on the left side of that unit? All I can make out is "St. Louis"

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

@Mike'smeatshop -

There were different models of that device made. Here's one of them:

1903 Schwabacher Hardware Co. catalog railroad tools pp 66

Can you help me out with the words on the left side of that unit? All I can make out is "St. Louis"

I'll have a look tomorrow. I use to know the marks. Thanks for the pic. What year is this page? I use to have the track drill and tongs. Is there a old RR topic?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Decades ago, my step-dads father rebuilt the bridge across the creek separating their yard from the apple orchard.

He got the rails out of the stone quarry where he worked. The rails were the main supports spanning the creek, maybe 10-12'. It was good enough for garden tractor and foot traffic.

 

[ambenz]

On the facia of my model railroad as a decoration....

add a spike, some tie buttons, and a railroad logo, and you can sell them to any railroad fan!

 

[four.cycle]

@Mike'smeatshop -

Check the list - in windows notepad - search keywords "track tools" and you'll find makers' names of those gizmos.
There were several different manufacturers of railroad track tools - it was quite an industry.

 

[metalmagpie]

4" tall rail is very light stuff compared to real train rail which is often 9" tall. Not sure I'd invest the time to make it into anvils.

These guys sell the real deal so you can see everything that's currently available.

https://akrailroad.com/

 

[Sumboodie]

That stuff is tough x 10 , tough to torch cut with a normal size tip

It's usually quite soft.

 

[Sumboodie]

4" tall rail is very light stuff compared to real train rail which is often 9" tall. Not sure I'd invest the time to make it into anvils.

These guys sell the real deal so you can see everything that's currently available.

https://akrailroad.com/

That's sneaky. I thought it was a link to the Alaska railroad!

 

[ZRX61]

My RR anvil is made from Chinese rail.

 

[Dig Doug]

Yard art - fabricate some mining orr carts

 

[bscman]

I've seen several gates at gravel lots, tree farms, and ranches that used RR track. Always wondered how they get it.

Neighbor kids use a length to "grind" and do tricks on their skateboards.

 

[ATC]

I was following a flatbed semi last weekend with a whole load of used stuff, torch cut to 40' lengths. If I coulda flagged him down and bought some, I would have!

 

[wmihl]

Door stops, to keep swing doors open on windy day, or due to the builder not setting the door properly and keeps closing on its own.

 

[Farmall450]

Shouldn't put your ground far away from where you're welding in the first place.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

@Mike'smeatshop -

There were different models of that device made. Here's one of them:

1903 Schwabacher Hardware Co. catalog railroad tools pp 66

Can you help me out with the words on the left side of that unit? All I can make out is "St. Louis"

Still waiting for a new hip. Not until Feb 4 and the bender is buried. But I did find a bender like mine that says it is 1930s. But I believe Gilbralter is the Company that made it. Thanks. Every time I went to find this thread I got lost in reading.

 

[Jim greengo]

Liability issue.

Don't hit my mailbox ,won't be a problem.
I knew a guy who welded and sleeved 2 3206 cat cranks end to end for a mailbox post,never had a problem with it.

 

[Lassen Forge]

All OH trolleys I've used run on I-Beams, not railroad profile rail... just saying.

RR Rail is categorized by it's weight per 3 feet - eg "110# rail" (which I have a 14" hunk of for a portable anvil) weighs 110 lbs per yard new, or a shade over 3 lbs per inch...my "anvilette" weighs in at about 40 lbs, so that works out. Used rail rail has a visible wear profile from the flanges of the wheels riding on them so will be a bit under that, also rail CAN be reground to reprofile the top to try to eke more life out of it.

 

[finn]

There’s been an ad up on the Tucson / Phoenix FB marketplace for a while from someone selling short sections of rail to repurpose as anvils.

I doubt if he is willing to ship, though.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Growing up, a lot of the local farmers used rail for tractor weights.

 

[jonesg]

It's usually quite soft.

definitely , i've seen rail cut with a cheap HF porta band saw.