Looking for anyone who can answer a question about old freight train freight binding?

Question

When I was a kid my brothers and I would walk along the train tracks and find black metal straps about 3/4 - to an inch wide,with holes about 1/2 inch apart. You could break the binding from the middle of one hole, three full holes, to the middleof the fourth, fold it in half and whistle really loud. My brother and I got to where we could play music with them really well. We won tallent contests. None of us have been able to find any in years. Does any one have any ideas?

Answer 1

I'm not sure when (i.e., what time period) you found this binding but having studied railroad history for many years my guess is that it simply is no longer used today for a number of reasons.  Almost all freight/lading, save for large, ackward, or bulk loads, are now hauled inside freight cars and sealed (as much as possible) during transport to keep it from being vandalized (automobiles are a good example, they used to be transported in open "autorack" cars, which now are both enclosed and locked) as well as simply out of the weather.  

More importantly, though, the industry and the types of freight it handles has changed from serving  every small town to moving goods from point "A" to point "B," as often as possible in "unit" trains carrying the same type of freight (so, for example, mostly gone are the days of delivering a single or few loads of freight to the local feed store or lumber yard).  Small railroads, like shortlines are an exception to this although even they mostly serve much larger industries/companies than what was typical in years past.

The one case where I think of it may still be in use is in timber/wood and building construction products which are typically hauled on differing types of flatcars such as centerbeam flats or bulkhead flats.  Many of these products still use binding of some sort, which may be the very kind you are speaking of and my guess is this where you could still find it.

Answer 2

I temember the CN and CP using this type of strapping years ago. The reason you found pieces along the track speaks for itself as to its strength. Today all steel strapping used by the railroads have AAR stamped on it and is very strong especially holding down dressed lumber. About 10 years ago I saw a load of 2x4s on a bulkhead flat car that had jumped the tracks and was almost on its side and the steel strapping kept the load in place.