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Railroad Ties

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  1. #1
    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    Railroad Ties

    Does someone have a general idea on how much weight 150 8/10' railroad ties would be?

    I am not sure what even 1 weighs as I never had them before.

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    A quick google search for how does a railroad tie weigh says about 200 lbs each.

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    I think if they are in fair shape you should be able to sell them.

  4. #4
    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    Quote Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper View Post
    A quick google search for how does a railroad tie weigh says about 200 lbs each.
    Well I guess I just learned something. I thought a tie was the metal stake that went into the ground lol.

    I just googled railroad ties, and it is the wood that goes across right?

    If so, no deal for me. Have no buyers for them lol

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    Correct! The ties are the wood that the track is connected to. From my understanding, anything belonging to the R.R. is private and scrap yards wont touch it!!

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    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jermscrap View Post
    Correct! The ties are the wood that the track is connected to. From my understanding, anything belonging to the R.R. is private and scrap yards wont touch it!!

    Well scrap yards wont touch wood anyway.

    My scrap yard told me that as long as I show them my paperwork authorizing that it now belong to my company they will accept.

    but with over 30,000lbs of ties, I cant do nothing with that.

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    check with some landscaping companies. A lot of them use them to landscape with.

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    Toss them on CL. People are always buying ties for gardens, landscape, retaining walls, borders, etc.

    Or is it the spikes that you have?

    Ties = ties the rails together.

    Spikes = what holds the rails down.

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    Railroad Spikes are what you are talking about George.


    Edit: You got me that time Idaho.
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  10. #10
    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    yeah that is what I thought. to bad that isn't what the guy was referring to.

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    Mechanic688's Avatar
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    You might end up being the new RR tie king;

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    Be careful with rail scrap. The rail cops are no joke! Make sure you have the proper documentation before you sell it. Any good scrap yard would not buy it without the correct documentation.

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    I spent a little time in track management for a fairly large railroad company. I would first be concerned about creosote in the ties (sounds like a tie gang has replaced a number of ties). The next thing is many people use the ties for landscaping, but a large amount may be hard to move in an efficient amount of time. Last, as others have said, be very careful with ANY railroad scrap, the penalties can be severe for something very small. Most railroad scrap has been let under contract for removal (actually the companies usually buy the material from the railroad, so they own it). The fact that it takes the companies so long to remove it is frustrating, but they have as much time as they need to remove it usually as long as it does not interfere with right of way or train operation. Sorry for the long respone.

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    Railroad clamps and spikes are referred to as OTM (other track material) in the industry. Because it is so dense and heavy it is the second most desirable iron commodity behind busheling...ohh and maybe tool steel.

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    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    I dont really think they even came from the rail yard guys. I think the guy in the craigslist ad, was just meaning they could be used at the rail yard.

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    GeorgeB started this thread.
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    Quote Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper View Post
    Toss them on CL. People are always buying ties for gardens, landscape, retaining walls, borders, etc.

    Or is it the spikes that you have?

    Ties = ties the rails together.

    Spikes = what holds the rails down.
    If I had the room, that would be a good idea, but no place to store 150 ties at.

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    Sounds like a brokered deal to a landscaping company would be in order. Work out the freight and then ship it to them. Take your cut and move on without ever having to store 150 ties.

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    Round here a very good rail road tie only brings $5-$10 so not a lot of profit in there after freight and expenses. Just my 2 cents worth tho,might be worth double or better depending upon where you live.
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    I acquired a pile of assorted scrap iron the other day which contained a piece of track.
    I thought "great for weight", then...I read various posts on the subject. A little disheartend, I called the yard I use most frequently and inquired. He confirmed that I should not bring it in without a permission slip. I asked about a couple of really short pieces I had and he told me that he'd probably look past a couple of those. I suggested then maybe I could cut the longer down and bring a piece in each load until it was gone. He ok'd that after I promised I'd stay away from track hereafter. Thought I'd share a possible way out from under an ignorant mistake in case there's another fool out there. LOL Sooo, now I need to search to locate a post on track cutting. Off I go.

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    cut it with a torch
    We're the renegades of Junk!

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