Re: Maybe a myth, maybe not

Elminero: would you like to post a photo of these finds? You could use close cropped images if you are afraid of hoards of foaming artifact scoundrels removing anything from the sites. I'm curious to see if these are "locomotives" that I've also found in the past. And by the way, I've left numerous artifacts exactly where I found them (such as a pile of broken links) so I think you are using a pretty broad brush to paint all people who visit old railroad grades.
Most artifacts will deteriorate if left out in situ (just try to find an Oahu Railway spike on the abandoned roadbed). Wood ties rot, iron rusts, brass corrodes, etc., etc. So nature itself will remove much of what is out there in the next 100 years. I like the idea of photographing and marking the location of artifacts on GPS as this has the potential to far outlast all of us. Of what I've collected I certainly don't want it dumped in a recycling bin when I'm gone, so I made the decision to begin donations to museums that seem appropriate depositories for what I've found and refrain from removing items unless I think they really need to be saved from some worse fate.