Mayo South Elgin
Sr. Member
I had previously posted this update in the Tokens & Tags section of T-Net but for those of you that haven't visited that forum section, here's a couple links...
Update: Check out these two links to additional info regarding the rail road baggage tag
http://www.railroadiana.org/pgQB.php
http://www.tagtown.net/morehous.html
A big thank you to both sites for the info!
It just goes to show, you never know what you're going to dig up, and just how old it can be.
As Scott Czaja mentioned, this tag must date from 1848 - 1864.
According to the info on Tagtown, the Morehouse baggage checks are very rare!
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Had a great day out in the woods with Lowbatts and Skates Ice.
After several hours in one section of woods, we leisurely meandered to another section and along the way there I found the piece that can't get any stations. A genuine Transistor Radio! It was about two inches deep near a creek. Still has the 9V battery in it but it's seen better days. I can remember listening to Super CFL and WLS back in the day of the transistor radio. Seems like there was a lot less commercials and better music back then...
Also picked up a pocket knife which is actually in several pieces because of rusting. The mother of pearl handle seems to be fake.
When we arrived at the other section of woods, I only had to hunt about 5 minutes before I got a good nickel signal. Of course it was wedged in between and underneath some stubborn tree roots and it looks like I put a thin cut line across it. The date was unreadable until I cleaned it and it turned out to be a 1916. After putting a little vaseline on it, the date became pretty much unreadable until I wiped most of the vaseline off. It didn't photograph well.
Got another signal that sounded good but it turned out to be a stainless steel spoon.
After some time there we decided to go for lunch so we started down the trail.
After about 5 minutes I habitually checked for the probe which I normally stick in the pouch/apron pocket. It wasn't there! OH NO! There were three possibilities to it's whereabouts. 1, Hopelessly lost in the woods between thorns and poison ivy. 2, Somewhere on the trail where Skates and I stopped to look at my pocket watch, or 3, Somewhere along the alternate trail we took while looking for Lowbatts. Skates and I headed off on the alternate trail while Lowbatts went back down the main trail where I had been clock watching. Option number 2 wins and Lowbatts was the hero of the day - finding it laying right on the white gravel trail. Two joggers, (one with a one eyed dog) one bicyclist who rode past us in both directions three times, and 1 squirrel all passed it without disturbing it! I was SO glad it was still there and not lost in the briars and brambles. Thanks again Lowbatts for finding it!
After lunch we went to some sidewalk and parkway works.
I started getting the usual mem cents, a clad dime, a clad quarter. Then I got a signal that sounded good but when I stuck the digger into the ground, I was getting lots of roots from the tree I was next to. The last time I had a good signal in tree roots on a parkway tree, it turned out to be a lot of effort for a mem cent and I was really hoping this wouldn't be the same.
After 15 minutes of digging and only getting about 3 inches deep, when I probed the hole the signal was real strong but it was still underneath roots and the spot I was digging was like an octopus with 8 elbows of roots going in several directions. Finally after prying and pushing, I saw the edge of the bell shape tag. The piece that visited the train station!
I had pushed it into sight by pushing against the dirt under the root. This would have been so easy to destroy by the way I had to dig but I got lucky and didn't gouge it.
Update: Check out these two links to additional info regarding the rail road baggage tag
http://www.railroadiana.org/pgQB.php
http://www.tagtown.net/morehous.html
A big thank you to both sites for the info!
It just goes to show, you never know what you're going to dig up, and just how old it can be.
As Scott Czaja mentioned, this tag must date from 1848 - 1864.
According to the info on Tagtown, the Morehouse baggage checks are very rare!
********************************************************************************
Had a great day out in the woods with Lowbatts and Skates Ice.
After several hours in one section of woods, we leisurely meandered to another section and along the way there I found the piece that can't get any stations. A genuine Transistor Radio! It was about two inches deep near a creek. Still has the 9V battery in it but it's seen better days. I can remember listening to Super CFL and WLS back in the day of the transistor radio. Seems like there was a lot less commercials and better music back then...
Also picked up a pocket knife which is actually in several pieces because of rusting. The mother of pearl handle seems to be fake.
When we arrived at the other section of woods, I only had to hunt about 5 minutes before I got a good nickel signal. Of course it was wedged in between and underneath some stubborn tree roots and it looks like I put a thin cut line across it. The date was unreadable until I cleaned it and it turned out to be a 1916. After putting a little vaseline on it, the date became pretty much unreadable until I wiped most of the vaseline off. It didn't photograph well.
Got another signal that sounded good but it turned out to be a stainless steel spoon.
After some time there we decided to go for lunch so we started down the trail.
After about 5 minutes I habitually checked for the probe which I normally stick in the pouch/apron pocket. It wasn't there! OH NO! There were three possibilities to it's whereabouts. 1, Hopelessly lost in the woods between thorns and poison ivy. 2, Somewhere on the trail where Skates and I stopped to look at my pocket watch, or 3, Somewhere along the alternate trail we took while looking for Lowbatts. Skates and I headed off on the alternate trail while Lowbatts went back down the main trail where I had been clock watching. Option number 2 wins and Lowbatts was the hero of the day - finding it laying right on the white gravel trail. Two joggers, (one with a one eyed dog) one bicyclist who rode past us in both directions three times, and 1 squirrel all passed it without disturbing it! I was SO glad it was still there and not lost in the briars and brambles. Thanks again Lowbatts for finding it!
After lunch we went to some sidewalk and parkway works.
I started getting the usual mem cents, a clad dime, a clad quarter. Then I got a signal that sounded good but when I stuck the digger into the ground, I was getting lots of roots from the tree I was next to. The last time I had a good signal in tree roots on a parkway tree, it turned out to be a lot of effort for a mem cent and I was really hoping this wouldn't be the same.
After 15 minutes of digging and only getting about 3 inches deep, when I probed the hole the signal was real strong but it was still underneath roots and the spot I was digging was like an octopus with 8 elbows of roots going in several directions. Finally after prying and pushing, I saw the edge of the bell shape tag. The piece that visited the train station!
I had pushed it into sight by pushing against the dirt under the root. This would have been so easy to destroy by the way I had to dig but I got lucky and didn't gouge it.
