Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

[NHBandit]

Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Detecting at the site of an old railroad depot in a town that was founded in the mid 1700s and found this huge chunk of melted lead. It had to have gotten really hot to melt like this and I'm curious what caused it to harden looking like this. Shown with a penny for comparison. Feels like it weighs at least a couple pounds, maybe more.

 

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[vayank54]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

I've dug melted lead the ended up the same way. I'm not sure what caused it to be like that though.

 

[trikikiwi]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

You might have some Babbitt metal there.
The locality found, the weight, possibly the shape - it all adds up
This explains
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(metal)
Mike

Sorry, I can't get that link I added to take you directly to the page, for some reason.
You'll have to click on the wiki links provided there.

 

[NGE]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

looks to me that it was being melted or removed from something above ground or gravel, and that's the shape it took upon hitting such........NGE

 

[NHBandit]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

The babbitt metal explanation makes alot of sense. There was a repair shop at this location for the trains as well as the depot and they may have been pouring new bearings and this is the extra that took the shape & texture of the dirt it landed on as it cooled. Being in the automotive trade for 35 years and playing with antique cars as a hobby it all makes perfect sense. I'm going to call this one solved. Thanks guys.

 

[NGE]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Lead bearings? Oh my.......NGE

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Yep, you are looking at the bottom. I'll bet the other side is much smoother.

Most likely babbit as mentioned. Common practice and common way to get rid of the excess.

Daryl

 

[Lucas]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

I helped re-do some babbit bearings. I'm going to take a wild guess and say what you have is a worn out bearing that was heated till it melted out and was left on the ground.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

That's the way they did it.

Daryl

 

[NHBandit]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

You guys are good. Here's a pic of the other side. Which would be the top as it puddled on the ground and cooled. Since there was a repair shop at the train depot where I found this I suspect it is the leftovers from pouring a new bearing rather than the remains of an old one that got so hot it melted.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

I don't think anyone was trying to say it got so hot it melted and ran out. It was the way the old bearing was removed. You would use a torch to heat it and it would melt and run out. Clean out the the remaining crud and crap and pour a new one.

Daryl

 

[NHBandit]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Lucas]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Casting the new ones is a clean, neat and tidy job.

Cool bit of RR history you got there. Like you said not just the what, but why it is there. That makes it archeology.

 

[bradyboy]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Slag off off pouring lead joints for water pipes ?
Brady

 

[Carolina Gold]

Re: Melted lead. Not so much a "whatsit" more of a why...

Its really awesome that theres more than one person in a room that knows what babbit is. I tried to explain how the bearing was originally made to some folks that thought I was made of BS. Told them about the line bore and everything. in this day and age they cant wrap their mind around people actually trying to fix something, not just buying another one. Im 37 yrs old and I try to embrace the old ways, but Im not close minded either. I imagine there would be less people in debt if we fixed things, rather, knew how to if we needed to fix things. Kudos. Share that knowledge. Thank you.