#Large railroad spike art how to

The artist Sol LeWitt was also asked to provide a large mural at one end of the vault. In 1981, we were commissioned to create a sculpture as part of a group of works to be permanently installed in a vast 45 foot high barrel-vaulted space in the center of the new Dallas Museum of Art, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. Total height, including upper and lower floor: 53 ft. (0.51 m) diameter length, knot to ceiling: 40 ft. Rope: polyurethane foam, plastic materials, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, painted with latex Over the years variations of Stevens' spike have been employed (such as the 'dog spike' which utilizes a shortened head with outward facing lugs at the top which aids in the removal process) but essentially, the same basic design has been used for the last two centuries.Stake: aluminum, steel, resin, painted with polyurethane enamel A wedge-like device, the chair held the rail to the crosstie/sleeper. These were often used on early English railways which employed basic 'T'-shaped rails without a wide base. It came to be known as a spike, sometimes referred to as a cut spike or crampon, and was a great improvement over earlier nails or 'chairs.'

It was the first use of 'T'-rail in the country and eventually caught on with other railroads.Ĭolonel Stevens also invented a large, hooked nail to hold the rail to the tie via the elongated base. These would later arrive in Philadelphia that May and placed into service on the Camden & Amboy (the C&A later comprised part of Pennsylvania Railroad's four-track Northeast Corridor, which remains an important artery under Amtrak today), a company which Stevens was president at the time. So, he sailed to England and had 500 pieces of rail, 15 feet long (weighing 36 pounds per yard) rolled in early 1831. Stevens initially ran into problems trying to prove his concept since there were no iron works then in operation within the U.S. It was a simple but ingenious setup that came to be known as flat bottomed rail but today is commonly known as 'T'-rail (flipped upside down it resembles the uppercase letter 'T'). At the time England was the only country producing rolled/solid iron rails.Īfter testing various techniques from wood and stone to iron straps the B&O decided upon the latter system (thin pieces of iron nailed to wooden blocks) held in place longitudinally with wooden crossties. Similar issues were encountered in figuring out what materials to use for the track structure and its width. As it turns out, steam locomotives could handle stiffer grades but required easier curves. They decided upon an easy 0.6 percent ruling grade with a maximum curvature of 14 to 18 degrees.

#Large railroad spike art how to

In particular was the B&O.Īs our country's first common-carrier the fledgling company's engineers and surveyors often had to guess and use their own intuition regarding how to lay out and construct the right-of-way.Īccording to the book, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad by Kirk Reynolds and Dave Oroszi, this task fell upon surveryor Lt. The earliest companies such as the Baltimore & Ohio, Camden & Amboy, Mohawk & Hudson, and Delaware & Hudson Canal Company paved the way in setting these future precedents.

The spike is one of the most widely recognized pieces of railroad equipment by the general public whether you work in the industry, enjoy studying it, or even have no interest in trains at all virtually everyone understands what a spike is and its basic function.ĭuring the industry's early years, however, developing today's railroad spike took some time since there was no established practices in regards to either rail fastening systems or much of anything else related to the operation of trains.