I've found this thread very interesting on, What is the best artifact found along a row and also the different viewpoints on wether to leave it as is,photograph it,or take it home to the garage.
Since i've been hunting old RR iron now for 20 years i think it mainly depends on exactly where one is getting the artifacts from to begin with.I basically do 2 types of hunting.I metal detect along old abandoned RR row's and search for old RR iron in rivers and creeks.
With metal detecting and river,creek finds what i find has not been found or seen by others before me other than the person that discarded or lost the item or the train it fell off of more than 100 years ago.Very few items i find are exposed,some maybe partially on land.I don't think wading in a river or creek to retrieve discarded items from 100 years ago is something where people are lining up at the riverbank waiting their turn to jump in the water for a look at what they can find? At the few local rivers and creeks i have been to i have yet to see any signs posted and don't know of any fishing for iron licenses required.
What exactly can be found in the water? I'm not trying to bragg on what i've found but am strictly giving examples of what kind of stuff is out there,just about anything! My largest find was a 33" 750lb. trolley car wheel with the Ry's lettering and year from 1912.A 1880's link & pin drawhead in a riverbank partially exposed in the dirt.I'VE found buckets of link & pins,some RR marked journal box covers,old slotted knuckles,RR tools,a brass B&O RR lock,grab irons,a set of narrow gauge shop car wheels and axles,a large hook and length of heavy chain from a derrick.The rivers and creeks are scrapyards!
With railroading everything they wanted discarded went the way of the ditch and rivers,creeks.Is hauling this stuff home a no no? If anything i've been cleaning the local rivers and creeks of debri! I'm a railroader and know how things get tossed aside.They still do to this day! As for metal detecting i often research areas where i hunt of wich some were wreck sites and often have permission to do so.I try to document some of the items and photograph them.If a ROW is posted i do not even bother going there unless i can somehow get permission.When i dig something up i fill any hole in an cover it up as best as i can.Railroads are littered with old iron and things from the past.To find and dig up some of these artifacts it somewhat connects you to the past and the persons that used the items.I've found lock's,key's,buttons,old marbles children threw out coach windows,broken RR china,engine oilers/cups,link & pins,RR marked bolt on and hinged journal box covers.There's so much to learn from the past.
If you were to walk a abandoned RR grade and accidently stumble on a 1850's RR marked bolt on journal box cover and the RR grade was going to be soon bulldozed and leveled into a bike trail do you think by leaving it there others will enjoy seeing it there? First off sure as heck the next person that stumbles on it is going to pick it up and walk away with it and it won't go in the garage either! Or the bulldozers going to burry it in a matter of time.One case i found a beatiful MS&NI RR bolt on jbc.that a woodchuck dug up out of a hole,i wasn't going to leave it there for the woodchuck as a doormat.Within 2 years where i found that it will be bike trail.I found a RR strap rail spike at another woodchuck hole on another old abandoned grade.I'm a trustee with our local rail trail so some of these items will be preserved in our museum.
You find a few things like that and then you realize woodchucks aren't all that bad after all! As for what i haul home the historical value means much more to me than the almighty dollar.Sure i know what the stuffs worth.You can't take it with you and i don't believe in getting rich off it either.A fellow once told me a collector is like a caretaker during the time in wich he cares for things.He then passes away,then the wife or kids auction it off,have a garage sale,or simply throw it in the trash.Some of it then goes to another caretaker until he then passes,the cycle reapeats itself.Alot of the stuff i find and haul home i'm going to make sure it goes to some museum.While i'm alive i enjoy looking for it.
