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If someone theoretically inherited property with 270' of railroad track, cut in 10' sections, and no record of sale or province. How would one legally scrap it? The property is many miles from a RR ROW, and the pieces of track have been laying around several years.
You shouldn't need any proof of ownership for rail road tracks. Should be able to just load em up and go to any scrap yard. Really the only thing places should ask for proof for is vehicles as far as I know
Dunno if the laws are the exact same everywhere but there should be metal stamping of some kind on each track piece indicating the company. Getting a signed release from that company should be sufficientQuote:
Originally Posted by runbuck98
wrongQuote:
Originally Posted by kss
Guess it all just depends on where you are, local laws and scrap yards policies..... I m am 99.9 % sure if I showed up to my yard with a bunch of railroad stuff they wouldn't bat an eye. I could be mistaken but I have never done it so I don't know. I would think if you can take pictures of them on your land, and proof that you own that land, that may be enoughQuote:
Originally Posted by greytruck
Still wrong. As in you'd go to jail wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by kss
Ah crap lol alright. I'll be sure to never pick up any railroad tracks then lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by JJinLV
Are there any other items that are similarly illegal to scrap? For future reference
You should check out "Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum" at the bottom of this thread. This topic has been discussed before.
I've done lots of excavating work on brownfields type sites, and have run across lots of railroad bits and pieces--spikes, plates, etc., and even the occasional piece of rail, although never any great length of it. I probably never had more than a couple of hundred pounds of it mixed in with a ton of other stuff.
Now, 25 years ago, I remember one guy at the yard telling me that if I ever came across a lot of rail, they'd pay a better price for that than say, heavy melt, but more recently, I've been told that they couldn't technically take that stuff, but since they knew me, they'd take it, (and hide it in that pile over there.)
My experience digging near a railroad siding was as follows--the property owner wanted me to use a narrow backhoe bucket, and dig across the tracks between two ties, so they could lay a conduit across the tracks. The railroad about flipped out! They made them get a boring machine and bore beneath the tracks. The people might have owned the property, but THEY, the railroad own the tracks, and you don't do ANYTHING in that right of way without their OK.
Kss, we're both in PA, so I imagine we're working under the same laws. The OP doesn't list a location, so I'd say the best bet for them is to call the yard they'd take it to, explain the situation, and ask what they'd need to make it all legal. The answers could range anywhere from "Sure, bring it on in." to "It doesn't matter how long it's been laying there, or how many miles it is from the nearest active line, the railroad still owns it and we don't want any part of it."
The track is in IL, but would probably be taken to a recycler in IN, if I can get things sorted out.
I have seen several of the other posts, but most seemed pretty vague, or said to avoid RR metal products altogether. I was hoping for a few more specifics, if there were any.
I’m also located in Illinois. I no for a fact any railroad material brought into a scrap yard around me is going to be a huge no-go . Before you start loading that stuff up you better have the fine details worked out with said yard . Driving around here with that stuff in your truck would be as bad driving around shooting a gun out your window you would be pulled over in a minute . Good luck anyway.
The rail company owns the rails. Contact the rail company indicated on the rail and get written authorization to scrap or sell the metals. Bring two extra copies of the authorization to the yard you wish to sell to (one for their records and one for their filings) after you've confirmed they will buy them with proper documentation. None of this should cost you $, just a few emails or phone calls.
But I prefer to be "spoon fed".....yummyQuote:
Originally Posted by jimicrk
Cut at 10ft someone was going two make a grissly
FWIW, Last week, a buddy and I were discussing what railroad cars were worth, and he sent me the link to a site. Here's the link directly to their "scrap" category: Sterling Rail - Buy and Sell Locomotives, Rail Cars, Railroad Equipment, MOW, Passenger Cars, and Railroad Rail
One of the ads is from somebody located in the "midwest", so they might be able to help out with knowing how to navigate the legalities of the whole thing.
(Not sure whether that link is time sensitive or not, but you can probably find Sterling Rail in your search engine.)
Okay Mike that's enough. I'm headed your way with a case of Gerber green beans, potted meat and a bib.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeinreco
mmmmmmmmm SPAM
All the yards that I have sold to in Indiana won't touch any RR stuff...Better to call ahead and find out...Quote:
Originally Posted by runbuck98
There are companies that focus on recycling RR materials full time. This is done on a contract basis. One of our old members dealt exclusively in RR scrap including cars and locomotives. Other companies specialize in collecting and reselling used RR ties. The reason for these examples is to emphasize the RR stills owns the materials even in remote areas. Different yards deal with this differently depending on local laws and whom they sell to.
https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scra...=railroad+ties
https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/day-...=railroad+ties
No railroad stuff allowed by me either. https://www.cfsmetalsrecycling.com/FAQ.html but I am sure you had paperwork from them you could get them to buy it. Public Safety you cant just people remove sections of rail to sell as scrap.
Some sorts of metal simply is never owned by a single person, its always owned by a coompany that will not sell it to Joe Citizen.
Railway lines and High voltage electrical cable come to mind.
If you end up with a short section of track (Again, make sure you LEGALLY have it), you may want to cut it up into sections that are a foot or two long and sell them as anvils to farmers. They work super well for it
Never knew that but I can see why it would be illegal - odds of it NOT being stolen are very very low. I have never seen an ad anywhere "Burlington Northern free metal" lolQuote:
Originally Posted by JJinLV
Now it makes more sense the stores I hear from people ex. "back when metal was over 250/ton and people were pulling up railroad tracks"... lol Lots of people being incarcerated I would guess.
About 5 years ago when an 30 story apartment building was going up in downtown Denver, about 4 tons of track was unearthed when digging the foundation. I brought a release from the contractor and pics of where it was found to the yard and they accepted it. I kept some shorter sections and spikes that were sold on Craigslist.
In addition to the ethical, business, and financial issues in scrapping railroad materials there is also a liability issue. Even if you contact the railroad, it is doubtful they will provide permission to scrap the tracks because of the liability issue. You could contact the local court house to see if the railroad has abandoned the right of way and if so the current land owner is also the owner of the scrap in the states where I do business. In this case the railroad or court house could provide you with documentation of abandonment which would be accepted at the yards in this area. These are the guidelines for the oil field materials I scrap.
Sounds like a significant amount of red tape for something that is just $65/ton scrap value (latest price I am aware of around here - could be lower) for one person with a regular pickup truck (me).Quote:
Originally Posted by Patriot76
Carnegie marked rail track, as well as a few others is sought after by collectors.
There was a guy on here awhile back looking for a small piece of track to make a ring out of.
I have 5, 10 foot pieces of track left that I cut down from 30 ft. as well as a few 1 foot or so pieces that I collected up over the years.
It seems that the track becomes for sale when those in charge want it gone to make bike paths or pull up other unused track, such as sidings.
I received the 2 30 foot sections from my cousin who had piles of it he had bought at scrap price or so. He was building things with the track.
In your situation, you are absolutely correct. My situation is a little different owning the equipment, knowing people in the court house on a first name basis, and having the ability to stockpile until the "price is right."Quote:
Originally Posted by SKWrapper
I notice that a foot of track for use as a anvil sells for around $25.00 to $50.00 on eBay. The ones that have been cut and shaped bring more and if it's old old old track with the proper markings the skies the limit.
Also, salvage laws can let a person have many things that most can't have. The laws are tricky in all forms. It basically comes down to if your up to no good simply put or if you are being honest and just.
bump
After reading that particular detail, I went out to the garage and looked at a couple of pieces of track that I have. One, which I think my dad inherited from his dad is unmarked, but another, which I can't remember exactly where I got it, is about 8" long. It's marked "...EGIE." :-/Quote:
Carnegie marked rail track, as well as a few others is sought after by collectors.
Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scra...#ixzz7ufWx7Iz8