Recently I was the recipient of a bag of date nails. Many of these came from the Paducah, TX, area, which is QA&P territory. Never having done anything with date nails I got online, found a couple of people who are extremely knowledgeable, and contacted one of them. He gave me TONS of information. Additionally, after looking at some photos I sent him, he told me that the 1930 and 1931 date nails are what he called "second hand Frisco" nails, whatever that means. The rest are apparently AT&SF. The two exceptions are the ones with IC in the middle. That means International Creosote, and those nails probably came from telegraph poles along the QA&P line. Anyway, I decided to make a display. A friend who only lives a mile from me lives on the old Orient Line. There are probably 1000 old ties , grade crossing timbers and bridge timbers stacked at one corner of his property. I found a dozen more date nails and found a piece of old tie that seemed like it would make a good display for the nails. NOTE: if you do anything with old ties, it might be a good idea to wear gloves and a mask. The creosote and who-knows-what-all-else they used to treat ties with is pretty caustic stuff. After cutting the back off of the tie to make it thin enough to hang on the wall, I sprayed it with several coats of matte clear to seal in the creosote fumes. Just a fun display that relates to railroading.
That date nail display turned out really good Paul. Colors are great. A nice addition to your outfit. Good looking railroad.
