Railroad finds!

[rayrayvegas]

Railroad finds!? need help!!

Last year in the 112 degree plus degrees I found myslelf in a dirt lot that had a lot of railroad activity in the early years of Las Vegas, it was hot and the ground was hard as concrete. But out came this R.R. key along with this tag several feet away.. then came the iffy signal, I debated should I just leave its so hot well needless to say several blisters later from diggin out came this small R.R. spike.. please help me on this..I think the 11 stands for the year and they were placed every so often for (this is were I need the help) thanks!

 

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[Brian C.]

Nice finds for sure, is it always that hot in your area.

 

[rayrayvegas]

From june to sept everyday over 100 .. August is real high temps... detecting hours 5am to 11am..a little longer if your md crazy... thats me for sure, when people say your crazy doing that in the sun I iust bring out my finds and they say can I go with u next time. Lol

 

[railroad-relic-hunter]

Those little spikes are called railroad date nails. They were used to date RR ties when the RR's installed them and to tell how long certain types of wood RR ties would last. They were normally nailed in the center of the tie between the rails.The oldest one i have found in a old rotted tie along a old abandoned RR grade was a 14 for 1914. I have seen some at RR shows from the late 1890's and the newest one a 1962. Alot of RR collectors will collect these and stick them in styrofoam or nail them to a wooden board for display purposes. On the old Erie RR here in Ohio i have seen some from the 1930's in old oak ties that you couldn't even pull out. I have found some from the early 20's in rotted moss covered ties that were thrown off to the side of the RR in the ditches. There not worth a whole lot maybe a buck or two at the most. They have square and round heads, some oval ones, the heads different sizes and the numbers raised or indented. The DT&I RR used copper nails. I have one of those from the 1930's. That's a nice brass Union Pacific RR key you found!

 

[rayrayvegas]

Wow, thanks for all the info on the spike. thats pretty intresting, think ill go look for some more! I feel lucky to get such a early date since the R.R only came thru around 1905.. can you please tell me what they used the key for?

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice date nail and UP switch key!

 

[Sovereignelite]

BTW those RR keys usually have some significant monetary value.

 

[rayrayvegas]

Thanks for the info S.L, and that its banner worthy : ) now where to go to find more info on the monetary value of it? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[got2dig]

Cool finds, love the RR stuff....HH

 

[railroad-relic-hunter]

Your brass railroad key is a switch lock key. They are collectible like anything else and some railroad collectors will collect just old RR key's. The brass ones are always more desireable and the older and RR name marked key of a long gone RR that was only in existance for a short time will drive the price up considerably and the same goes for the RR locks. I myself have a small collection of some i've bought over the years and i think the cheapest i ever paid for one was $15, the most i ever paid for one was $75. I have seen some go as high as $300-$400 hundred dollars on Ebay back when they would let you list them. Since 911 if you try and list RR key's or locks they will pull the listing. The only way i've seen some slip by is if the sellers list them say as brass railroad hardware or old brass key. If they have the word RR with key or lock Ebay will pull the listing. It's rather stupid because no class 1 RR's i know of even use the old brass key's or locks today and havn't since the 1970's. When i hired out with the RR we only had one industry that i recall that had a older lock on a old rusty chain attached to a gate that took a brass key but it wasn't even used as they had a newer lock next to it. All the locks the RR's use today are higher grade security locks and keys. I've even seen a few of them at RR shows but you'll pay at least $50 for one of them and they aren't even RR marked! Your brass UP RR key isn't super old and a fairly common looking brass key probably from the 1950's thru 70's it's probably worh at least $35-$50. If it was a older tapered barrel UP RR key it would be worth alot more! There is a RR website called Key,Lock & Lantern that might give you some information on old RR keys and locks.

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

That was a good lot !!! Congrats on the key and the date nail !!!!! Now,,,,why are ya reading this ?? get back out to that lot

 

[rayrayvegas]

RRH.... thanks for all the great info you shared with me and others this is pretty exciting stuff when you really know more about it.. I appreciate all your expertise time on this matter for me. Come to think of it I found an old railroad lock out there too maybe I'll see if I can dig it up I never throw anything way trade or sell so I have boxes of stuff.. I think I just gave myself a new project for the next couple of days looking at these boxes for old RR stuff. Thanks again everyone for the looks no replies I sure appreciate it it's nice talking to you all.

 

[Sovereignelite]

Ditto. I have dug. a couple and was surprised at their value

Your brass railroad key is a switch lock key. They are collectible like anything else and some railroad collectors will collect just old RR key's. The brass ones are always more desireable and the older and RR name marked key of a long gone RR that was only in existance for a short time will drive the price up considerably and the same goes for the RR locks. I myself have a small collection of some i've bought over the years and i think the cheapest i ever paid for one was $15, the most i ever paid for one was $75. I have seen some go as high as $300-$400 hundred dollars on Ebay back when they would let you list them. Since 911 if you try and list RR key's or locks they will pull the listing. The only way i've seen some slip by is if the sellers list them say as brass railroad hardware or old brass key. If they have the word RR with key or lock Ebay will pull the listing. It's rather stupid because no class 1 RR's i know of even use the old brass key's or locks today and havn't since the 1970's. When i hired out with the RR we only had one industry that i recall that had a older lock on a old rusty chain attached to a gate that took a brass key but it wasn't even used as they had a newer lock next to it. All the locks the RR's use today are higher grade security locks and keys. I've even seen a few of them at RR shows but you'll pay at least $50 for one of them and they aren't even RR marked! Your brass UP RR key isn't super old and a fairly common looking brass key probably from the 1950's thru 70's it's probably worh at least $35-$50. If it was a older tapered barrel UP RR key it would be worth alot more! There is a RR website called Key,Lock & Lantern that might give you some information on old RR keys and locks.