[TheForge] Rotted iron?

[Rob Fertner]

Up until the end of the Civil War and a little after, railroad rail was made
from wrought iron. Which is why is was relatively easy for Gen. Sherman's
troop to heat and wrap rails around telegraph poles or trees. After the
Civil War steel production ramped up and the railroads switched to steel.
So, RR spikes were originally wrought iron and later steel. Up until the
early 1970's plain RR spikes were around 20 points of carbon, mild steel.
When they switched to a higher carbon spike, they marked them HC. Even then,
we talking 30-40 points of carbon.
I've got a 4-5 inch chunk of rail that is wrought iron. I got it years ago
in the garage of an estate sale in the older section of town. I was going to
use the wrought for a project, but I found out the history. So, I stuck it
away to keep as piece of history. So that spike may have been a lot older
than 60 years.

Rob
Wichita, KS

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ron Childers
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 12:25 PM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: [TheForge] Rotted iron?

I drew out a very old railroad spike on my power hammer and the tapered end
split into strands like cable. It's at least 60 years old. I don't think it
is wrought iron, but I've  had no problem with dozens of other spikes. Why? 
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