Re: Strange Steel Souvenirs from a RR Right-of-Way . . .

Even spikes won't last forever, Dave -

I have on display in a cabinet in my entry hall a few scraps of steel, blued by the heat of the friction when they were cut away from ex-S.P. #4449's tires when they were turned in Omaha 46 years ago this month (see the fourth set of photos at [ngdiscussion.net]).  You're probably right in guessing they'll be thrown away with a lot of other junk when my place is cleaned out after I'm gone, but they still evoke some good memories when I happen to look at them every once in a while, and I am pretty sure they would have long since rusted away into the ballast at the old Omaha Union Station if I hadn't picked them up . . .

- Roosso

Added 10/03/21 — Here's a quick-&-dirty snapshot of #4449's tire turnings, along with three pennies she flattened a couple of weeks later in Ogden, Utah:


And – just for Greg Scholl – an early-50s Warbird that shares the same shelf in my souvenir cabinet:




Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2021 06:22PM by Russo Loco.