How much is parts of a railroad worth?

Question

theres aan abandoned rail road back where i live and theresa bunch of parts and me and my friends wanna make some money. So please tell.

Answer 1

Your lawyer will make the most off the deal trying to keep you from doing 2 to 5 in prison .You better pick another career choice.

Answer 2

They could be worth several years in a Federal Penitentiary.  All crimes concerning the railroad are federal offenses, on top of any State or Municipal laws or ordinances.

Leave 'em alone.

Answer 3

Taking up old rail lines is not a good idea, unless you are a specialist contractor with permission from the owner of the line.

Rail weighs about 1cwt per yard, which means that 60ft weighs a ton. If it's welded you will need oxy-acetylene equipment to cut it into manageable lengths. If it's the old, bolted type you will need heavy-duty wrenches and a lot of elbow grease.

You will also need a mobile crane with a safe working load (SWL) of at least 10 tons.

You will need a heavy lorry (at least 10 tons) to move all this scrap metal. If there are things like old wagons or parts of locomotives you will need a heavy low-loader to shift them.

So yes, you can make money out of scrap metal but you need a lot up front for the right gear first.

Answer 4

Yeah, I'd wait a while before you start picking things up. A contractor will probably be back for the clean up. I was talking to a section guy last week. He told me that a 200 pound keg of spikes cost 88 dollars. That breaks down to each spike costing 44 cents new. So used, idk, maybe 20 to 30 cents each. Not a lot any way.

Answer 5

if you mean scrap money, as soon as you show up at the scrap yard with spikes, rail plates and stuff the police will be called and you will have to convince them you are the owners.

Answer 6

I would not touch it unless you know who owns it. The railroad or the state most likely owns it and you will be charged with theft.

Answer 7

if they are over 50 years old, they could be worth thousands and are highly sought after by collectors and train enthusiasts

Answer 8

They are actually worth quite a lot, for that reason it is likely contracted out to a speiialized contractor that does that sort of thing.

Also, the line may not be officially abandoned, it may be out of service, and subject to being put back into service at any time.

You need permission of course, find out what railroad abandoned the line and start by talking to them, it might take awhile to find the right person to talk to, be persistent.

Scrap iron prices are way up now, last time I checked it was about $70.00 a ton.

The used ties are probably not good enough to use for landscaping or fencing but if they are, you should be able to sell them directly for $4.00 or $5.00 each.

I hope you get the authority, it is nice to see someone actually wanting to work for a change.

Good Luck wth it!

Answer 9

The other folks are correct.  Just because it looks abandond to you, does not mean there is someone that does not know about the materials that are there.

Trespassing on Railroad Property is a pretty serious offense, so staying away would be your best bet.

If you are caught out there removing that property, the next ride you are going to be getting is in the back of a squad car heafing down to the police department.

Basically, trust our advise and let someone else get caught being foolish.

Answer 10

Your best bet is to leave it alone. the railroad is owned by a company, and they know that stuff is there. even if trains never run on it anymore they still own it. stealing these abandoned track parts is theft, plain and simple. railroad companies are highly against anyone trashing their tracks to make some easy money and will spend tens of thousands more dollars than the parts were worth to track the people down and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.