railroad tracks

[gunmonk]

i have found about two hundred feet of rail road tracks. what would you do with it? it seems like it would be good for various projects. they are of course rusty and heavy as hell but they are free. i am a beginner and all i have is a ocy/act set up, and i was wondering if steel that thick could be welded easily by a beginner?
p.s. if any one is in n.c. and wants some of it let me know. free is free

[Main]

First thing that comes to mind is mail box post.

[Franz]

Anvil comes to mind as an easy project.
Start with a chunk of rail and burn away anything that don't look like an anvil.
After getting close to the desired shape, heat the whole thing red hot, and beat to finish.

[gunmonk]

cool idea fanz. if it dose not rain sunday i think i will.

[david_r]

Trade it to a scrap guy for some smaller stuff.

[lotechman]

Got enough for a cattle guard? Ranchers love to get their hands on the stuff.

[Sberry]

here is an easy one

Originally posted by gunmonk
cool idea fanz. if it dose not rain sunday i think i will.

Gunmonk,

I had been meaning to post pictues of my RR Iron anvil for some time; rather than highjack your thread, I gave it it's own.
You might want to take a look before you start on yours. Somebody did a pretty nice job on it, under Machine Tools & Cutting Methods or:
http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread...1576#post11576

[WillHunt4Food]

Take all of it to a scrap yard, steel is at an all time high right now. You could make a small fortune selling it as scrap metal

[Sandy]

Originally posted by gunmonk
i have found about two hundred feet of rail road tracks. what would you do with it? it seems like it would be good for various projects.

First thing you'll wanna do is cut it up into smaller pieces. You'll never drag a 200 foot stick home without someone driving over it in an intersection.

juss funnin'.

Everyone here had given good ideas. It'll bring some good money. Every one wants some at some time or other. Wouldn't hurt to keep a liberal amount even if you do scrap it.

Little anvils, big anvils, the ultimate cattle guard material, weld chains on for driveway dragging or dirt floats, front end weights on tractors, weights for blades and discs, road barriers, on and on.

[gunmonk]

thanks to all for the ideas. i guesse it pays to snoop around.

[rusted]

It would make one helluva shop press frame.

Someone mentioned this stuff comes in different sizes and stuff. The stuff I got has the number 136 on it and seems huge. Anyone know that that means?

[enlpck]

136 pounds per yard of length, most likely.

here is a chart of rail sizes, I guess just gee whizz info:

http://www.nortrak.com/railchart.html

http://www.nortrak.com/rail.html#