Railroad camps?

[Palmetto Pony]

Regarding the (paraphrased) question of what happened to the old rails the answer is, it depends. Around my area there were many logging railroads at the turn of the century. When the economy changed in the 30's they were simply ripped up for scrap. I was able to ID two lines within 3 miles of my home using a 1919 topo map and some software/phone app (Maprika). It led me straight to them. What remains are the old dirt roadbeds which are now used as dirt roads into the respective properties (several hundred acres of pine forests).

On the other hand there is a CSX mainline several miles in the opposite direction from my home. I had researched the route that southern forces had taken when Charleston was evacuated. Those units that couldn't fit on the last trains out were forced to march, following the mainline of one of the major railroads in the area during the 1800's. I narrowed down a good search area to detect and went on my very first researched hunt. Lo and behold I located the remains of the original roadbed and ironically it paralleled the CSX mainline..the present day owner of that original railroad. CSX eventually acquired it through various mergers of southern railroads through the years. From the RR related artifacts I found while detecting it appeared the original roadbed was utilized until sometime in the 30's. When the line was upgraded it appears they simply laid a new mainline adjacent to the original and once completed they ripped up the old one and abandoned the original roadbed. Operationally this would make sense as they could still operate the mainline on the old tracks until the new section was done and then switch over with very little interruption in operations.

To say I found a few old rail spikes would be an understatement! My first find was a fired enfield round (which was posted last year). After that it was a ton of spikes!! Being in newbie learning mode it was a "dig everything" hunt. That lasted until about my 15th spike! LOL

 

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[boogeyman]

ive seen that on some of my maps as well but there's no key saying what it means so I'm not sure either

There's a RR museum either in or close to Las Vegas might want to give them a call or send an email with a screen grab of your map showing the X mark. They were a big help to my buddy when he was looking for info on the Calif area.

 

[katzgar]

We might be talking about the same thing but the geodesic survey Maps are detailed enough to show the old rights-of-way they're fairly easy to infer from the maps

 

[alabama11]

I have also been searching along rr trackstracks on private land for about a year and failed to find any camps. Have found some cw material, house sites ect. Seems like a complex bridge would slow them down for months so that is where I will focus.

 

[Deft Tones]

I have also been searching along rr trackstracks on private land for about a year and failed to find any camps. Have found some cw material, house sites ect. Seems like a complex bridge would slow them down for months so that is where I will focus.

They sent bridge building crews out months in advance of the track building crews. There was almost never any down-time later in the process.

 

[sprailroad]

Crew housing is all gone now. Long time ago, they often had a section crew about every ten miles apart, with housing for them and there family's, look for sidings, and any spur track off the siding, or the remnant's of. And it may depend of course where you live, wooded areas are often overgrown, desert areas a lot better. Tracks may no longer be there, just need to eyeball. The sidings and spur tracks would have been located on tangent (straight) track, and if you are able to find where section housing had been, you can find some good things, I have found coins, as well as bottle dumps. Also, on older maps, on rail lines there are place names, there are no towns etc. but THOSE were often the stops where section crews had lived. The X's?, COULD have been location of water towers, or not. It's not easy to find them, the best for me was while working in AZ, NV, NM, UT. I retired from working on the track in a # of states over the years, and where section housing had been, was often the best. Also, around where a Main Line & Siding meet, (The Switch), if it's an old line, before automated signal's, somebody lived there. Operated manually. This may help only alittle. Good Luck. One more thing, construction crews when track was being built? Very tough, they moved right along. In the west, black powder cans are a fairly good clue, you can still find them out there.

 

[Truth]

Crew housing is all gone now. Long time ago, they often had a section crew about every ten miles apart, with housing for them and there family's, look for sidings, and any spur track off the siding, or the remnant's of. And it may depend of course where you live, wooded areas are often overgrown, desert areas a lot better. Tracks may no longer be there, just need to eyeball. The sidings and spur tracks would have been located on tangent (straight) track, and if you are able to find where section housing had been, you can find some good things, I have found coins, as well as bottle dumps. Also, on older maps, on rail lines there are place names, there are no towns etc. but THOSE were often the stops where section crews had lived. The X's?, COULD have been location of water towers, or not. It's not easy to find them, the best for me was while working in AZ, NV, NM, UT. I retired from working on the track in a # of states over the years, and where section housing had been, was often the best. Also, around where a Main Line & Siding meet, (The Switch), if it's an old line, before automated signal's, somebody lived there. Operated manually. This may help only alittle. Good Luck. One more thing, construction crews when track was being built? Very tough, they moved right along. In the west, black powder cans are a fairly good clue, you can still find them out there.

I live right by a now cemented wooded bike trail that used to be the town tracks from the 1800's in Covington Louisiana. I was wondering if you feel it would be productive to MD along side of it or are the certain spots I should look for like the X's?


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[sprailroad]

Truth 1253, Yes, I would. off the sides, I'm sure there might be something out there, again, I'd give it a shot. Having said that, I came back to this thread because I feel that I left out something that is very important, something I cannot stress enough. And this is for all you fella's out there. Active tracks. If you're out there searching, please PLEASE, do not walk ON the tracks, or within say 12' of them. even more so on curved tracks. I will tell you that Amtrack's are quiet, and you will not hear them and they will not see you until it's to late. I know as fact it's easier to walk on the tracks then not, but it can be dangerous, freights as well. Amtrack max. speed normally is 70mph, and freight's are about 55 to 60, that's for main line. and walking along the side of the track, be aware that when a freight is coming by, if they carry lumber or anything strapped down with metal bands, those bands do break, and are being dragged bouncing around, and can reach out and snag you, and from there it gets ugly. Tracks other than main line, on jointed rail, not so bad, but still, if it's active, Please beware. Now, on the lighter side, a note of interest. If you come across tracks out there somewhere no longer being used, if you look on the side of the rail, or (web), you may see the maker of the rail, the size. ( 90lb. 110lb. 115lb. etc. and the year made, 09 being 1909 etc. And also you may see this, ///////, That is the MONTH it was made, those 7 marks being July. Example; CARNAGIE 115lb. /////// 09. This way you may at least get an idea the last time some guys installed that piece of rail. And the lb.? If I remember that is the size of rail, 115lb meaning for every three feet, that's what the rail weighed. They were normally in 38' lengths, or thirty something. Today, new rail comes in 1/4 mile lengths and is 132lb. & 160lb. rail, but that's a whole other story. So again, careful around any Active tracks, otherwise good luck.

 

[Truth]

Truth 1253, Yes, I would. off the sides, I'm sure there might be something out there, again, I'd give it a shot. Having said that, I came back to this thread because I feel that I left out something that is very important, something I cannot stress enough. And this is for all you fella's out there. Active tracks. If you're out there searching, please PLEASE, do not walk ON the tracks, or within say 12' of them. even more so on curved tracks. I will tell you that Amtrack's are quiet, and you will not hear them and they will not see you until it's to late. I know as fact it's easier to walk on the tracks then not, but it can be dangerous, freights as well. Amtrack max. speed normally is 70mph, and freight's are about 55 to 60, that's for main line. and walking along the side of the track, be aware that when a freight is coming by, if they carry lumber or anything strapped down with metal bands, those bands do break, and are being dragged bouncing around, and can reach out and snag you, and from there it gets ugly. Tracks other than main line, on jointed rail, not so bad, but still, if it's active, Please beware. Now, on the lighter side, a note of interest. If you come across tracks out there somewhere no longer being used, if you look on the side of the rail, or (web), you may see the maker of the rail, the size. ( 90lb. 110lb. 115lb. etc. and the year made, 09 being 1909 etc. And also you may see this, ///////, That is the MONTH it was made, those 7 marks being July. Example; CARNAGIE 115lb. /////// 09. This way you may at least get an idea the last time some guys installed that piece of rail. And the lb.? If I remember that is the size of rail, 115lb meaning for every three feet, that's what the rail weighed. They were normally in 38' lengths, or thirty something. Today, new rail comes in 1/4 mile lengths and is 132lb. & 160lb. rail, but that's a whole other story. So again, careful around any Active tracks, otherwise good luck.

I'm glad I gave you the opportunity to get that out there The path itself is about 6 feet across and then there's another 6 feet on one side which is a horse path.

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