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A Foray into Kentucky continued...

We stopped for lunch in Appalachia, VA. It was a curious repaste. The restauranteur began by telling us how tough it is for him to get good Italian salami; then he and his son both regaled us with a discourse on Italians in general---their manners, morals, and dialects. Soon it was obvious they knew nothing about Italians[9]. They didn't ask us why we were covered in mud, though, which sped up the meal considerably. East of that town we climbed down an embankment smothered in prickers, to what we thought was Interstate track. It was a worthwhile stop, for we bagged two round raised 22s, not (07) but (18B). Also, 26's, 30's, and a type (04) 36 from a telegraph pole---Louisville & Nashville still, at about its easternmost point anywhere.

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Later, at Kent Junction, we reached true Interstate. But we found a strange melange of nails not expected. In addition to cut 50 and 51, and a 2" round indent 24 found in a twice-used discard, we turned up square indent (05) 52's and 57's, which we knew only from utility poles up in Rochester, NY, and one round raised (06) 43, new for us. A 13/6 SWP nail also turned up---22 nails in all. Further up this branch we looked in vain for more stuff, finding only a weary succession of badly mangled cut 51s.

Jeff Oaks' book, Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation can be purchased on his web site.

Now it was mid-afternoon, "crunch time." Time to pick up one more site and work it before hitting the road back to Fairfax. Our goal was some serene N&W

locale. But at Norton

we screeched to a halt at the large wooden trestle there, which serves

the Interstate (though at that time, our maps being a bit confused, we weren't sure who owned it).

As expected, there were holes, but still plenty of nails. What an assortment! Round raised (03) 31s in great condition, a round raised 34 which has a 5/16" shank (a type (07)), a round raised 37, square raised 42s (great nails), a square raised 37, and a square indent (05) 58. New for us were the 34 and 42s. The former was so striking that it was the first pick in our split of the one-of-a-kinds. It has an opaque shank, no diamond[10], and tight, worm-like anchors running more than 1 1/2" down.

Having pulled thirty nails from this trestle, we decided it was time to start for headquarters. But at Banner, VA, more wood trestles appeared, and the dang things are just too fun to pass up. There was still some light, and we had vigor enought to nail till midnight. The three N&W bridges here had already been nailed, but at least Jeff managed to find two more of the narrow date cut 42's, among the lesser stuff we found. At the last bridge, a group of bored-looking teenagers hung out, as we assaulted the pilings with now-expert alacrity. They heard scraps of our argot, in dumbfound amazement: "A thirty-eight!" "Hole!" "Is this a cut?" "Ah, just another type ten!"

And like commandoes, we were off, mission achieved. One more stop at twilight was worthless, save for a hubbard we found which says 'ODP', and is of larger figures than the one shown in DNC[11]. However, my three-year old boy swiped it a couple days later, and lost it at his day school.

We hauled up I-81 at seventy, got in a twelve---36 hours exactly.

For the trip, 322 nails pulled, 17 new varieties, two new railroads represented in the boards, and one more piece for our virtually complete N&W puzzle. A good trip, if rushed...

For a good, illustrated introduction to date nails see Jeff Oaks' web page at http://facstaff.uindy.edu/~oaks/DateNailInfo.htm. There you will find a general introduction to the hobby, a brief outline of date nail and tie preservation history, along with information on the latest nail book, nail shows, the e-mail newsletter, etc.

If you want to contact the author, Steve Worboys he can be reched by e-mail at kropotkin@mindspring.com. Jeff Oaks can be reached by e-mail at oaks@uindy.edu.

NOTES :

[9] Rossella is from Italy, which made this amusing for us! [back]

[10] Type (07) nails, to 1943, usually have a raised diamond on the shank as a manufacturer's mark. [back]

[11] DNC = Date Nails Complete, the best book on date nails available at the time. A Hubbard nail is a large aluminum or copper nail usually used by utility companies in poles to record various information. [back]

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