Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Rail Tie Code


Looking underfoot while exploring an isolated section of the old NWP railway, I spied some ties bearing letters and numbers stamped into the wood. I wonder what they mean.

7 comments:

Dina said...

Good eyes. Good mystery.
Here you find numbers hand painted on stones or stone walls. Think it has something to do with the infrastructure below or around, or surveying, or ....

Petrea Burchard said...

I don't know, but isn't it beautiful? Gray on gray.

USelaine said...

Dina, I suspect these marks were made on the wood before they were placed on the ground for the railroad, possibly one hundred years ago. But it's hard to know for sure.

Petrea, I liked the elements of plant and stone, the wood likely rot-resistant redwood. I nearly missed the sinking sunlight on this, just barely visible.

Thank you both, dear sisters.

Dina said...

Nice to have the "aunties" together here. :)

ninguno said...

Hi. In little things we find good photos. Well done|

Thanks

Anonymous said...

maybe their hobo code

USelaine said...

PA, I just found out this past weekend that these are not as old as I thought. They're 1995 vintage replacement ties, stamped by the makers like a sort of "freshness date".

Sadly, it would be hard for hobos to get here. We all hope the next decade will see a return of actual use.

Thanks!