On Tue, 26 Aug 2014 06:06:42 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 26 Aug 2014 07:30:31 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby
wrote:

On Mon, 25 Aug 2014 17:43:47 -0700, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 25 Aug 2014 18:45:25 +0000 (UTC), James Waldby wrote:
On Sun, 24 Aug 2014 18:51:15 -0700, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:04:54 -0500, Ignoramus7070 wrote:
The rails are submerged up to the webs, digging out nails
is costprohibitive.

Here's an idea. Lotta gall, that guy, eh?
http://tinyurl.com/qbfuxh7
$75 plus s/h for a couple inches of rail and 1/100oz paint?

Let's see, at $37.50 per inch (10 in/ft after grinding losses, $30 for
paint, $50 for grinding discs), you'd clear up to $37,420 for every
100' of track. Multiply by 18 for several hundred yards of track.
Gee, you'll clear 2/3 million easily, Ig! $673,560 for 300 yds!

If "submerged up to the webs" means that the bottom inch or so of the
rail is below ground surface, I imagine the ground is soft and wet on
occasion, and that the lower parts may be badly rusted. Depending on
how badly rusted the track is, cutting out sections for anvils may be
pointless.

Why? You beat on the bottom of an anvil??

Typically the top surface is the work surface. But heavy rust on
supporting parts would kill a lot of sales, and removing it might
take more time than would pay off.

Not with a bucket of molasses water.
Wirebrush the worst off, cut to size, dunk in bucket for 3 days to a
week, rinse, dry, paint the web, and sell.

If it's badly rusted (many are; I've rejected many scrap pieces from a
nearby maintenance yard), no amount of rust removal is going to help.
The ones I've seen are deeply pocketed and corroded.

The one I have is pristine. It was a cutoff from a new rail used in a
switch-repair job.

--
Ed Huntress