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From: Wes White whitewb AT earthlink DOT net
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:25:43 +0000
Subject: Old Rail found; identify & possibly restore, Maplewood
"Baker_Rail_IMG_0783_rail_7_MAW.jpg" - image/jpeg, 640x480 (24bit)



Hi All,
Courtesy of a local contractor, our town historians now have a 7' bent, rusted and seriously yucked section of rail that was next to Maplewood's Baker Street Bridge [A]. The rail was vertical and presumably was used as a post for a below ground retaining wall. Dimensions are 4" base, 4" high, 2-1/8" head which equates to the 50# to 60# ASCE range [B] and two bolt holes for fishplates.
Rich W. found that the bridge went in in 1901, so perhaps this might be old rail taken out when construction began (the bridge sits on top of the original ROW) and used for this project . Obviously, other possibilities involving scrap rail for a more recent town project are being evaluated and are sadly more likely. Cleaning the rail web to find the manufacturers code and year appears unlikely so have turned to alternates.Does anyone recall any posts or sources that gives the history of the rail weights used in this area (the start of the climb to Summit). Archive searches only give more current re-rail project weight changes and not of this area; perhaps I'm missing some search words. I've checked Taber with no luck, but information like this could be anywhere. In the interim, the local history mavens are searching for the highest resolution photos of the adjacent 1860's Maplewood Station. Obviously a lot of rough analysis, but based on one photo, 55/60# rail appears OK and has the 4 bolt fishplates. Hopefully we can dig up more hi-res photos.Does anyone know of any sources for figuring out whether we have 1800's or 1900's rail. I saw some overview info on this subject and digging in is going to be time consuming. ASCE only came into being in 1893 and finding their info for the 1890's looks like a project. Hopefully someone else might be able to give me some advice.CLEANING THE RAIL: The web is filled with hardpack yuck probably 1" thick. Water dissolved what it could and test scraping went nowhere. I checked the archives, a few other groups, and finally the web, but came up with nothing (spikes yes, rail no). Can anyone recall any articles on this subject, paper, internet?? Has anyone been involved in something like this or knows someone who has? Any RR groups, historical societies or museums that might have done something similar? Perhaps the question is whether cleaning is too dangerous to the rail or time consuming, and simply left "as is" would be suitable. Again, perhaps someone is aware of something like that. The town has always gone out of it's way to memorialize the past and something like this might be, though minor, a tribute to the DL&W's major contribution to the town. I'm very impressed that several people took immediate action to save what most would send straight to the dump. So any help would be greatly appreciated,Wes White Mplwd, NJ [A] [B] https://railroadrails.com/knowlege/rail-section-dimensions (https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7302396,-74.2780619,3a,75y,123.55h,83.52t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0E4ELaLEVihr9rGMzcsYyg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)/




Baker_Rail_IMG_0783_rail_7_MAW.jpg

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