![]() ![]() These would later arrive in Philadelphia that May and placed into service on the Camden & Amboy (the C&A later comprised part of Pennsylvania Railroad's four-track Northeast Corridor, which remains an important artery under Amtrak today), a company which Stevens was president at the time. So, he sailed to England and had 500 pieces of rail, 15 feet long (weighing 36 pounds per yard) rolled in early 1831. Stevens initially ran into problems trying to prove his concept since there were no iron works then in operation within the U.S. It was a simple but ingenious setup that came to be known as flat bottomed rail but today is commonly known as "T"-rail (flipped upside down it resembles the uppercase letter "T"). At the time England was the only country producing rolled/solid iron rails.Īfter testing various techniques from wood and stone to iron straps the B&O decided upon the latter system (thin pieces of iron nailed to wooden blocks) held in place longitudinally with wooden crossties. Similar issues were encountered in figuring out what materials to use for the track structure and its width. As it turns out, steam locomotives could handle stiffer grades but required easier curves. They decided upon an easy 0.6 percent ruling grade with a maximum curvature of 14 to 18 degrees. In particular was the B&O.Īs our country's first common-carrier the fledgling company's engineers and surveyors often had to guess and use their own intuition regarding how to lay out and construct the right-of-way.Īccording to the book, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad by Kirk Reynolds and Dave Oroszi, this task fell upon surveryor Lt. The earliest companies such as the Baltimore & Ohio, Camden & Amboy, Mohawk & Hudson, and Delaware & Hudson Canal Company paved the way in setting these future precedents. The spike is one of the most widely recognized pieces of railroad equipment by the general public whether you work in the industry, enjoy studying it, or even have no interest in trains at all virtually everyone understands what a spike is and its basic function.ĭuring the industry's early years, however, developing today's railroad spike took some time since there was no established practices in regards to either rail fastening systems or much of anything else related to the operation of trains. Forging Railroad Spike Tongs for Blacksmithing.Blacksmithing Railroad Spike Tongs Simplified Version.Forging Rail Spike Tongs from Old Nippers.Blacksmithing tools - Flat nib tongs forged of two railroad spikes.Poor Man's Forged Bolt or RR Spike Tongs From Harbor Freight Long Handled Pliers. ![]() Blacksmithing tools - Railroad spike bolt tongs.Forge a Medieval Rondel out of a Railroad spike.Standard Specification for Steel Track Spikes. Railroad spikes can be gathered from old tracks, purchased in antique shops or purchased from train enthusiasts, and they are turned into a variety of useful and creative tools.ĪSTM A65-01. Railroad spikes, which have been used on railroad tracks for more than 100 years, are collector's items for train enthusiasts and historians. One such object that you may not have thought much about is the railroad spike. Many people enjoy taking uncommon objects and making practical tools out of them. (The Tuyere, newsletter of the Illinois Valey Blacksmith Association) With this in mind, be aware of a higher carbon content and work with the material accordingly. The spikes are barely heat treatable and won't hold an edge very long. 80% that we would usually call high carbon. HC on a railroad spike does not necessarily mean high carbon, it may mean highway crossing, and these spikes need to be stronger for this part of the track. In seasoned oak, another experimenter needed 4,281 pounds. Early experiments showed that pulling out a 9/16″ × 9/16″ spike driven 4¼" inches into dry cedar required on average a force of 857 pounds. ![]() A spike with the wedge driven across the grain will have about twice as much holding power as one driven with the grain. Its square cross section gives a railroad spike much higher holding strength than a fastener having the same amount of metal but a circular cross section has roughly speaking, about 50% more. The wedge is driven into the tie across the grain, that is, parallel to the track. ![]() The spikes used to fasten T-shaped railroad track to wooden ties have an L-shaped head and a square shank. Appalachian Blacksmiths Association - Oil.Appalachian Blacksmiths Association - Wax. ![]()
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