The book: Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation
In January, 1999 I published the most comprehensive book on nails yet. It supersedes the 1976 work Date Nails Complete (Glenn Wiswell & John Evans).
I ran out of copies in July 2011, so I put the whole book online for free in three .pdf files (November 22, 2013):
- Volume I
- Volume II
- Volume III
The volumes are paperback, plastic comb bound (like spiral bound), on standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper. It is Special Report #3, University of Indianapolis Archeology and Forensics Laboratory.
Below is the table of contents for Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation by Jeff Oaks.
| Volume I | Page |
|---|---|
| Introduction | 1 |
| Contents | 19 |
| History of railroad tie preservation | 20 |
| Tables | 64 |
| Short biography of Octave Chanute | 76 |
| Railroad listings A-H | 91 |
| Volume II | Page |
|---|---|
| Railroad listings I-Y | 185 |
| Index of railroads without entries | 345 |
| Treatment company sets | 346 |
| Shadow sets | 347 |
| About the author | 352 |
| Volume III | Page |
|---|---|
| Introduction to the photographs | 1 |
| Date nails showing the year only | 5 |
| Letter nails | 75 |
| Letter-number tie nails | 95 |
| Letter number nails | 98 |
| Single digit code nails | 121 |
| Switch nails | 142 |
| Pole height and depth nails | 142 |
| Descriptions of some nails not shown | 146 |
| Reverse listing | 149 |
| Index of railroad initials | 198 |
| Quick guide to shank markings | 203 |
The introduction contains detailed info on notation, a glossary, lists of treatment chemicals and processes, general nail collecting information, and the bibliography.
The railroad listings comprise about 3/4 of the text (Volumes I & II). For each of over 250 North American railroads, a list of date nails they used is given, followed by all info I have on their tie treating and record keeping practices.
These lists form the foundation for the history of railroad tie preservation. No such history had ever been published before, and those article-length histories of wood preservation which have appeared in engineering journals over the years are invariably slanted or give bad information. That is because it takes a careful examination of each railroad's practices to see the whole picture clearly. I am the only one crazy enough to spend years compiling this info!
The reverse listing is extremely helpful. If you have a nail and you don't know what railroad used it, you can look it up here. The reverse listing, about 50 pages long, was created by a computer program I wrote which takes the railroad listings as input.
It took me nearly a decade to write this 561 page book. I corresponded with five dozen nail collectors and read thousands (I lost count after about 2,000) pages photocopied from old railroad engineering journals and books. I issued a first edition, called Date Nails by Railroad in 1994, but it contained only the railroad listings, and those had not yet been well researched.
If you have any questions on date nails, drop me a note. I am always glad to find out what people are pulling and trading. I often help people identify nails, and I learn what is out there.
Errata for the book
If you have a 1st or 2nd printing (i.e. you purchased it in 1999), consult all errata pages. If you have the nth printing consult all errata from n up. Example: if you have the 4th printing, consult the 4th and 5th printing errata. Note: I gave up an maintaining errata in 2003. If you keep up with Nail Notes (see below) you should be covered.
Rolland Meyers's books
Rolland has compiled a book dedicated to the date nails of New Zealand and Australia!
Rolland Meyers has just produced an updated photo section! This takes the place of most of the pages 5 to 145 of Volume III of my book.
And he has also produced a volume for letter nails.
Here is his latest project, on the points of type (05) nails.
The booklet: Railroad Date Nails: Collecting for Fun
This 22 page booklet, written by Norman Christian Jensen in 1983 is a great introduction to our hobby. Jensen’s book is profesionally printed with ample photographs of nails, ties, tracks, fencelines, etc. It does not pretend to give any information on nail sets or to decipher the meanings of the nails. The book does a very good job of explaining to people outside our hobby just what it is that we do. There are photos of nails in ties, of equipment used in pulling nails, and of date nail displays. If someone is a little curious about date nail collecting, this is the right book.
To order, send $6.00 (that includes postage) to: Jerry Waits, 501 W. Blue Bell Rd, #10, Brenham, TX 77833.
The Texas Date Nail Collectors' Association
Despite its name, the TDNCA is a North American organization which has served date nail collectors since 1970. The magazine Nailer News is issued four times a year, and it contains articles on nails, ads for nails, info on nail shows, etc. Issues are normally about 24-30 pages long.
Annual membership is $20.00. Send your check to:
Jerry Waits
501 W. Blue Bell Rd #10
Brenham, TX 77833
979-830-1495
The Upcoming Date Nail Show
As always, if I fall behind in my listing of the next show, contact Charles Sebesta (csebesta@alpha1.net) for the latest info.
Our 2011 Summer Show in LaCrosse, Wisconsin was initially scheduled to be at the Knight's of Columbus Hall on State Road 16. However, since those arrangements were made the building has been sold. The new owner has refunded our initial payment and has also provided us with additional funding to off-set some of the rental cost at our new location. Mark Gilles, our Show Chairman says it is a win-win situation: better facilities at less cost.
The new location is:
The Moose Lodge
1932 Ward Avenue
LaCrosse, WI 54601
To get there take Exit #5 off of Interstate 90 in LaCrosse onto State Road 16 and go south through LaCrosse (no turns - Hwy 16 turns into Losey Blvd.) until you reach Ward avenue (McDonalds is on one of the corners) and turn right. Go five blocks and the Moose Lodge is on the left.
Mark says that we will have adequate space for up to 32 tables, all furnished by the lodge. Right now Mark plans on setting up 27 tables, but he would appreciate if all those planning to attend would let him know how many tables that they will need.
Show hours:
- Thursday afternoon, August 4th: 3:00 to 6:00pm for set up
- Friday, August 5th: 8:00am to 5:00pm
- Saturday, August 6th; 8:00am to 12:00 noon (We need to have things cleaned up and be out of the building by 1:00pm)
On Thursday evening, Mark has reserved the private upstairs dining room at the "Freight House" for dinner at 7:00pm. It is the old Milwaukee Road Freight depot. It's at 107 Vine Street, in LaCrosse.
On Friday evening (if we have enough who wish to go) he'll reserve space at the "Train Station BBQ." It is located in the 'old' Milwaukee Road passenger depot, which is now the AMTRAK Depot. It's located at 601 St. Andrews Street in LaCrosse.
If you have additional questions, you can contact Mark at:
- Cell: (608) 385-3850
- Home: (608) 782-9580
- Work: (608) 775-4010
- E-mail: mwgilles@gundluth.org
Extra curricular activities
There will be some flyers with information for a train trip to the Boone & Scenic Valley RR station on Thursday or Saturday available at the show.
Here is a photo, taken by Wes Hodges, from the March 23-24, 2001 show in Shelbyville, KY. It is of Don Blake's marvelous display of type nails. What you see is only half of it!:
Here are some nice pics of the show taken by Steve Cochran at the Concordia, KS show (July 28 and 29, 2000):
Photos from the Kerville, TX show, which was held in March, 2000 (photos by Steve Cochran):
Show host John Haifly looks over Don Blake's table
Some nice old Rock Island nails in this one!
Santa Fe nails