Hunting along Railroads

LovestheShiny! · Jan 29, 2019

Tom, sad to say that the times have changed a lot since 9/11. Yeah, as a kid I walked the RR tracks hunting for old insulators thrown out when the old telegraph lines were upgraded or dismantled. No one cared. Today... no way no how. The railroads guard their active lines like the vital transportation network they are. Arrests are a matter of course, and much of it done to protect the RR from liability from the idiots who get killed every year being on active tracks. Abandoned lines with no rails or activity, go for it!

CarsonChris · Jan 29, 2019

My great grandfather is mentioned in this article about the “Great Train Robbery” outside Verdi NV. I grew up playing on these tracks in Verdi. Frank Mitchell was my great grandfather. https://thetahoeweekly.com/2017/06/verdi-train-robbery-part/

http://cprr.org/Museum/Robbery.html

I was always told that some of the gold was never recovered.

Tom_in_CA · Jan 29, 2019

quick, call the authorities

Mud-puppy · Jan 30, 2019

marcomo said:
Me and several of my buddies did that as little kids. Sometimes you'd find them right next to where you put them on the track, other times further away. Sometimes not at all. That's why you're finding them now.

As kids, we used to play on the tracks all the time. I got pretty good with my balance, we would walk on a rail from our neighborhood to one of the business sections of town. Get a soda, buy and trade baseball cards. Always on the left side of the tracks, none of us ever had any accidents or problems except occasionally we'd get chased by a railroad dick. It was a different time.

Love your post! It WAS a different and very fun time to be a kid! What you say about developing a keen sense of balance while walking the rails is Definitely True! Being able and confident to walk a rail, the skills translated over into being able to walk a high ridgeline or top plate or rafters on construction...

Kids that practiced on rails developed above average equilibrium skills!..Something you cannot learn from a book or fake, you HAVE to walk the rails and practice to get that balance coefficient cemented into the developing prepubescent brain...All of us rail walkers became a sort of Farmtown Flying Wallendas...

.It was a very important mental gyroscopic development to a kids brain what walking the rails taught us!....Besides construction work, you got the skills for passing a field sobriety test!! Yep! Walking the rails has made and saved me a lot of money! Too bad kids nowadays dont have this wonderful experience..

Most Kids nowadays have no sense of balance, or confidence and capability regarding footing or working at heights...and thats gonna prove to be a big problem for them...especially now that Dope is legal, sooner or later, these kids are gonna get pulled over and have to Walk the Line!... :laughing:

.

SoOregonMd · Jan 30, 2019

CarsonChris said:
My great grandfather is mentioned in this article about the “Great Train Robbery” outside Verdi NV. I grew up playing on these tracks in Verdi. Frank Mitchell was my great grandfather. https://thetahoeweekly.com/2017/06/verdi-train-robbery-part/

http://cprr.org/Museum/Robbery.html

I was always told that some of the gold was never recovered.

Cool story Chris !

cellrdwellr · Jan 30, 2019

Beach Bum said:
just be careful hunting R&R's still in use, there are laws that require you to keep a distance from them and you can be charged if you are caught on their property.

I'm too lazy to look it up, because I dont hunt them, but I would suggest you look into it if you hunt ones in use.

+1 also underground electrical utilities could be present, I would rather spend my time detecting somewhere more fruitful, alot of the railroads you see today are nothing like they used to be (new tracks, clean fill dirt/stone, etc.)Good luck and happy hunting!

marcomo · Jan 30, 2019

Thanks, mud. It give me a good feeling to get kudos from our hobby's Mark Twain!

Tom_in_CA · Jan 30, 2019

Mud-puppy said:
Love your post! It WAS a different and very fun time to be a kid! ...

Mud-puppy, the same laws existed then, as exist now. Thus how could you have been so evil as to have walked alongside RR tracks ? MUCH LESS ON THEM to do the heel-to-toe balancing right-of-passage.

No wonder you slipped into a life of crime and clubbing baby seals. Walking along RR tracks, after all, is a gateway crime. A slippery slope. Tsk tsk.

Rattlehead · Jan 30, 2019

I have a couple of good hunting spots next to old RR tracks. You'll definitely find a lot of spikes, rail tie plates and other RR related iron but near loading areas there's usually some good stuff too. Old baggage tags, bale seals, and the occasional silver coin. Here's one of my favorite RR finds:

It's marked S.R. (Southern Railway) on the back side.
http://antique-padlocks.com/show_picture.htm?4425

Fooleeze · Jan 30, 2019

That is very cool!

Rattlehead said:
It's marked S.R. (Southern Railway) on the back side.
http://antique-padlocks.com/show_picture.htm?4425

Tom_in_CA · Jan 30, 2019

Rattlehead said:
I have a couple of good hunting spots next to old RR tracks. You'll definitely find a lot of spikes, rail tie plates and other RR related iron but near loading areas there's usually some good stuff too. Old baggage tags, bale seals, and the occasional silver coin. Here's one of my favorite RR finds:

It's marked S.R. (Southern Railway) on the back side.
http://antique-padlocks.com/show_picture.htm?4425

Love them old RR locks.

But ... how did you avoid getting arrested ? :?:

Rattlehead · Jan 30, 2019

Fooleeze said:
That is very cool!

Thanks!

Tom_in_CA said:
But ... how did you avoid getting arrested ?

Dunno. I smile and wave at every passing train so maybe its because I look like a nice guy?

Hunting along Railroads

LovestheShiny!

CarsonChris

Elite Member

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

Mud-puppy

SoOregonMd

Elite Member

cellrdwellr

Elite Member

marcomo

Senior Member

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

Rattlehead

Fooleeze

Senior Member

Tom_in_CA

Elite Member

Rattlehead

Similar threads