Railroad Rail Anchors

[MattTucker]

Tried that welding shop, he will cut a piece off, but does not have the material. I was told, and probably correct, that is is illegal to have the rail material, if you could, every Meth Head would be stealing it from the railroad bed and turning it in for scrap.

I work in steel fabrication, and it isn't illegal to have pieces of rail beams. The problem is, generally a normal welding shop or fab shop won't have that kind of material lying around and in order to purchase it they would have to buy in stock lengths......that makes for an expensive anchor if you are only looking to buy one. At $40 for a piece cut to length with the eye welded to it, I think it is a good price and I would go that route (and I have access to that type of material).

They do make great boat anchors.

[taxidermist]

Fenton closed, he finally retired in 2011.

[Brian Wise]

The small convienience store at the Norfork confluence, Woodsmans, sell them for $40 a pop.

Best,

LB

My next anchor. Do they tend to have some in stock Larry?

[Jeff Tief]

mainline rail weighs 133-136# for every 3feet of rail;some of the older branch lines and old industry tracks would be lighter.

[drew03cmc]

In some rail yards, they still have 90# rail Jeff. If you can get in with a contractor or something that is replacing broken rail in a yard, they will often sell you a foot long piece of it. I have about 9" of 90# rail here for a doorstop in my son's room. It works darn well if I may say so myself. FYI, Jeff, they also have 140, 141 and 155# rail that you will occasionally see. The 155 isn't made anymore.

[Jeff Tief]

Car shops at Desoto on the Uprr had some that I'd hate to venture a guess the weight;been a Conductor for the last 35years and hope to retire next summer.Most of what I see on the UP main on the Chester and Desoto subs run the 136.Used to find date nails in the top section of the ties=some from the late 1920's;some were still in ties;Desoto had done a lot of yard work-might be some smaller rail still around there.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Hey Jeff, the old M&I line from Bismark east should have some small stuff. May even find some 85# or even 75# up towards Bonne Terre. Should be some more up around Crystal City.

[Jeff Tief]

Thought from prevois posts you were a retired railroader;I started a Bismarck in 1977 and plan on going out on 2013 if the Sen.from Wisconsin stays away from our retirement.First wife's uncle was an old M&I conductor from the mi 40's until a bad ticker retired him early.I don't need any rail,just post that it wouldn't take a very big piece of rail to make a pretty good anchor.Where'd you work out of?

[Chief Grey Bear]

I knew you weren't looking for rail, just tossing out some spots that I thought should still have the small stuff.

I started out in Carthage Mo. Became a boomer and worked KC, SW OK and finally AR. Spent 12 years at it and pulled the pin to raise my family. Don't regret a minute of it but some days kinda miss it.

PM me some info on the old M&I Bismark - St. Gen line. I can't find much history on it. I am interested in the operations of the later years. Like from the 70's to present. I know they don't run in between but work both ends. I have always wondered why it wasn't ripped up in the middle unless it is insurance for Mississippi flooding.

[Hogs on the Fly]

My next anchor. Do they tend to have some in stock Larry?

Yes they do BW! In fact, the Woodsman liquour store now has a little tackle shop opened right next to it and I did confirm that they have some. I failed to look at the price but last I checked it was $40. That's what I'm using now on the skiff. It's amazing how many anchors one can find in the river after months of low water!