On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:46:28 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 08/20/2014 12:23 PM, David Billington wrote:
On 20/08/14 14:45, dpb wrote:
...

My guess would be that unless the "decades" are approach 10 or more
the likelihood that the spikes will come free in large numbers is very
low.
...

May depend on the quality of maintenance the rails had. When my dad
worked at Boeing in Wichita a work colleague had a rail spike on his
desk and when asked where it came from was told from a local active main
line and he had just pulled it out by hand. I can remember thinking some
of the sleepers looked in a poor state in the area but didn't think
spikes would actually be loose.

Perhaps -- I'm judging based on 60+ yo ties in ground in our feedlots
I've pulled to rearrange the cattle chute that still had spikes in them
from their prior life that are not loose by any stretch of the
imagination...I've no idea how old they were before they were salvaged;
they were still in good shape as it was a similar case w/ the rr of
rearranging rather than tearout of old but we built the original
lots/chutes in '58 thru '60 so they've been in the ground since then w/o
tremendous deterioration in area with high ammonia content from cattle
for that time as well, not a roadbed...then again, they haven't had rail
traffic either. How the effects compete I've no idea but I wouldn't
count on them being totally rotted out unless it's been a long, long time...

Of course, iggy'll find out when he goes and tries. If could get it
there, I'd think his big forklift would be the tool to just lift and yank...

Crossing crews and tie switchers use (or used) a pneumatic tool that
looks like a small jackhammer, with a hook on the end instead of a
chisel. Those spikes pop out like thumbtacks.

('Worked on a Penn Central crossing crew in 1967, when I was in
college. $9.40/hour in 1967!)

Six men would lift a section of track with three, two-man tongs.
Crossing track sections were shorter than the normal track length but
I don't remember the actual length.

Those rails were still in use, though, and they came up easily. I
don't know about lifting old track.

BTW, if you want to ruin your back, try drilling spike holes in a
creosote-soaked wooden tie. It's no problem going in, but try pulling
the drill and the bit out...

That was the job they gave the kids -- like me. g

--
Ed Huntress