When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Lot of 50 Carbon Steel Railroad Spikes. Approx size of each piece 5 1/2 - 6 inches x 9/16 x 9/16. Sent via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate.
From Bladeforums containing the carbon content:
I have been reading the postings on railroad spikes through the various knife forums and found that there is a lot of confusion when it comes to carbon content and head markings. I have been looking for the answers to a couple of questions: are there low and high carbon versions of spikes, what do the heads markings mean, and does HC really mean High Carbon?
I did a search on Google for railroad equipment and came up with the names of the major railroads and companies that supply them. I must have sent out over 20 e-mails asking for information on spikes. This is what I found:
Spikes purchased by the major railroads conform to the standards set down by the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association. A.R.E.M.A. was formed in 1997 by the merger of the American Railway Bridge and Building Association, the American Railway Engineering Association (A.R.E.A.) and the Roadmasters and Maintenance of Way Association along with certain functions of the Association of American Railroads.
Through one of my e-mail contacts, I obtained a copy of the A.R.E.A. manual chapter that deals with Track Spikes. In essence, it identifies two versions of spikes, one soft-steel and one high-carbon. Soft-Steel spikes contain anywhere from a minimum of 0.06 to 0.20 percent carbon (reference sec. 2.1.3). The head of Soft-Steel spikes are marked with a letter or brand indicating the manufacturer (reference sec. 2.1.11).High-Carbon spikes contain anywhere from a minimum of 0.20 to 0.30 percent carbon(reference sec. 2.2.3) The head of High-Carbon spikes are marked with a letter or brand indicating the manufacturer and also the letters HC (reference sec. 2.2.11). If copper is added to either version, the head will be marked with the letters CU.
Gerdau Ameristeel is the largest producer of spikes in North America. They offer six variations of A.R.E.A. spikes, and can produce, on request, 14 other variations. Their brand mark is similar to the dollar symbol, ($) an S with a line through it.One of the variations that they produce is a Medium Carbon Spike which has a minimum of 0.25 percent carbon and is marked MC. This 0.25 percent of carbon is within the range that they use for their High Carbon spikes so I believe that knives made from them would be near the performance of a HC spike knife.
