How long is a piece of railroad track?

Question

There is a running/biking trail near my house that used to be part of a railroad track. All of the tracks have been removed. However, I found what appears to be part of a track, except that it is embedded *vertically* in the ground! I tried digging it up and am already about 8 inches deep. If this is in fact a piece of rail, how long might it be? A foot? Six feet? Longer? Thanks.

Answer 1

Most rail is 39 feet long so i'm sure you have a shorter piece

Answer 2

Originally, they were 39 feet.  Why?  Gondolas were 40 feet long, back in the day.

Later on, rail lengths were doubled, to 78 feet.

These days, Continuous Welded Rail (CWR, aka 'Ribbon Rail') is shipped in 1320 foot (1/4 mile) lengths.

Rails are driven into the ground for many reasons; as a barricade or for land slide protection, usually.  The ones for barricades will be shorter lengths, as suggested above.  But the ones used for hillside stability are much, much longer and are usually set with a pile-driver, a large machine resembling a 'crane,' that drives the lengths into the ground.

So, if your opinion or location indicates that this may have been a barricade at one time, digging may allow it to be extracted.  But keep in mind, it could weigh as much as 139 lbs. for a 3 foot section.  If 8 feet long... do the math.  But if it has been sunk into the ground for reinforcement of any kind, bring a really, really big lunch along with your shovel...

Answer 3

One piece of rail is traditionally 39 feet. If someone took the trouble to put it in vertically it's probably 4-6 feet long. Sometimes they were used as posts to hang signs on. When they put the bike path in they probably cut the rail at ground level to take the sign down. It would have been easier than pulling the rail out of the ground. Signs for trains are usually 10 feet in the air so you would need at least 4-6 feet of rail in the ground to support it.

Answer 4

Keep digging. It is probably no more than 20-25 feet. keep us informed of your progress.