No. Date nails were used only to date the tie.  The nail was driven in the upper face of the tie away from the rail. Date nails are much smaller than railroad spikes, which secure the rail to the tie.

The railroad name is NOT on the nail.  No railroad put its name, initials, or monogram on a date nail.  We know pretty much which nails were used by which railroads because collectors have walked the tracks for the past thirty years and have recorded their finds.  This information is compiled in the book Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation, so given a handful of date nails you can compare them with the book to find out who used them.

No.  By far most date nails show the date, but many railroads used nails to indicate the species of wood, the kind of treatment, the length of the tie (at switches), among other things.  Nails from utility poles can show the class (diameter), height, or ownership.

Some nails have letters instead of numbers.  A "B" from the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, for example, was driven into a Beech tie.  Another example:  on the Santa Fe the nail "OZ" was used in oil-zinc chloride treated ties.

Beware of single digit nails:  some are dates (i.e. a "4" is from 1904), but many are code nails.  The Southern Pacific used code nails 0 through 9 to number bridge pilings. The Louisville & Nashville used single digit code nails to number switches.  Other railroads used code nails to number ties in test sections.

The Union Pacific and the treatment company Southern Wood Piedmont drove nails into the ends of overlength ties at switches to indicate tie length.  On most UP nails these were clearly not used to date the ties:  A nail will read 8FT  over 6", or 12'.  But those used by SWP will have 9 over 6, 10, 10 over 6, 11, and so on.  A 16 in this series will look like a 1916 date nail. One seller on eBay thought his 9 over 6 was an 1896 date nail!  It was driven into a 9 1/2 foot tie, and probably dates from the 1970's or 1980's!

Pole height nails often cause confusion.  They look just like the nails used to date timbers, reading 35, 40, 45, 50, and so on in increments of 5.  A 35 was used in a pole 35 feet high, for example.

My book (Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation) makes all these distinctions clear.  If you have a nail, you can look it up in the photo section to see if it is a date or if it is a code for something else.  If it is a code nail I include information on what the nail was used for (when that info is available).

Yes, it is, if you don't ask for permission. By wandering on to an active line and pulling nails you are trespassing, vandalizing, and stealing, though railroads in general not only do not care about the nails, they are no longer aware they are even there.  If you ask for permission first, you will almost always be given a positive nod to go ahead.

Either you can pull them yourself, or you can get them from other collectors by buying or trading.  See Acquiring date nails below.

No!  There are about 190 members of the TDNCA, and subscribers to my Nail Notes, most of whom are NOT in the TDNCA, number over 300. Over 350 copies of Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation have sold so far.

Some collectors prefer nails with their rusty patina intact.  If you like shiny new-looking nails, let them sit overnight in a jar of vinegar. Don't use any really abrasive method of cleaning, like sandblasting or muratic acid, and don't paint, varnish, or plate your nails.  To protect them from rusting over again, one collector sprays them with WD-40.

First, ask you wife (assuming you are male and married) if she WANTS these old ugly things displayed.  Once you have been relegated to the basement, an easy method is to take a piece of pegboard, drill the holes bigger (say to 7/16") and put it in a wooden frame of your construction.  The nails fit nicely in the holes.  I have some old maple drawers whose bottoms I replaced with pegboard.  Now these hang vertically on the wall so the nails are plainly visible.

Here are your possibilities:

• Put them up for bids on eBay.
• I will put a free ad for you on my e-mail newsletter Nail Notes,  Over 300 people subscribe currently.
• You can put an ad in the quarterly newsletter Nailer News, publised by the Texas Date Nail Collectors' Association.

Before you do one of the three, it is best to know what railroad (or utility company) used your nails, and you should have a way to describe them accurately (a photo is nice).  The more you know about your nails, the better they will sell.  Contact me for more info (oaks@uindy.edu).  And remember that I do not buy, sell, or trade nails myself.

Buy Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation and read it!  It is the best deal on a well-researched railroad topic you can find. 560 information-packed pages for only $30!  Also, join the TDNCA and read the quarterly Nailer News which comes with membership.  Lastly, subscribe (for free) to my e-mail newsletter Nail Notes.

Both the Santa Fe and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh used "X" nails to indicate a substandard tie or timber.  Many ties, after leaving the treating plant, are found to be sub-standard.  Some have a little premature rot, while others suffer from checking (splitting) in the ends.  Often these ties are still fit to be used, so the railroad would drive an "X" nail to indicate that they did not want them counted in the annual statistics.  The BR&P used a nail with an indented X from ca. 1911 to 1932.  The Santa Fe began using a raised X sometime 1926-36, and they stopped perhaps about 1959. 

This is not a railroad nail.  PK stands for Parker-Kalon, and PK nails are used by surveyors to mark points in their work.  They drive them into poles, trees, fenceposts, ties, or whatever timber is available.  Do not pull any more of them – otherwise you may cause them extra work in recalibrating their positions!