# Advice on finding railroad dumps?



## Woodsy (Nov 14, 2021)

New to the forum and bottle digging and look forward to learning from you all. One thing I’ve got in my mind I want to try my hand at is finding old railroad dump sites. In my area one of the oldest things to be found are the railroads. I’ve started walking them and found some neat insulators and a few odds and ends here and there. My question is are general rules of thumb to look for dump sites? Were they near the last stop before a city, in the middle of nowhere far away from cities, near water so that they could get water when dumping, etc.. I know a lot of this will be walking and probing, but curious of ideas to narrow it down some.


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## Slabbing N Cabbing (Nov 14, 2021)

I’d love to see the insulators you’ve found. Are the railroads that you walk still active? I feel the dump sites may be random. I am hooked on insulator hunting along Transmission/telegraph lines. But you have to respect private property, when it applies.


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## CanadianBottles (Nov 14, 2021)

I've found two, one was on a riverbank below a trestle (and unfortunately almost entirely washed away to the point that there was nothing of interest left apart from things too heavy to carry out) and the other in a location which is so far from anything connected to the railroads that I can't figure out why it was there.  That one might have just been a railroad hotel dump rather than an actual railroad dump though, it's full of railroad china but never found anything obviously connected to trains themselves.  I'd suggest looking around places where the railroad crosses rivers and ravines, that seems like the most obvious place for them to dump things.  Keep an eye out for places with metal sticking out of the ground, they would have likely thrown out larger items which wouldn't have gotten buried as easily.  And of course keep an eye out for masses of wire as well.


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## Woodsy (Nov 14, 2021)

Slabbing N Cabbing said:


> I’d love to see the insulators you’ve found. Are the railroads that you walk still active? I feel the dump sites may be random. I am hooked on insulator hunting along Transmission/telegraph lines. But you have to respect private property, when it applies.


I can post some pictures but from what I’ve read they are more common ones. Hemingway 42, 45 & 46


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## Woodsy (Nov 14, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> I can post some pictures but from what I’ve read they are more common ones. Hemingway 42, 45 & 46


Oh and yes it’s still active but is a very old line. It’s the main line coming into Tuscaloosa Alabama.


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## RCO (Nov 15, 2021)

i've poked around various railways here but never really found any actual dumps from them . although i would come across bottles and cans , metal objects too , some insulators . alot of broken stuff but rarely anything that old

but trees would have grown in alot since the early days of the railway here so anything old well hidden

i'd imagine if the railway had a dump it have to be somewhere near the railway , they wouldn't of taken stuff that far away back then


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## PlaneDiggerCam (Nov 15, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> New to the forum and bottle digging and look forward to learning from you all. One thing I’ve got in my mind I want to try my hand at is finding old railroad dump sites. In my area one of the oldest things to be found are the railroads. I’ve started walking them and found some neat insulators and a few odds and ends here and there. My question is are general rules of thumb to look for dump sites? Were they near the last stop before a city, in the middle of nowhere far away from cities, near water so that they could get water when dumping, etc.. I know a lot of this will be walking and probing, but curious of ideas to narrow it down some.


I'd look for areas near bridges where they'd dump off into the water. Also normally these dumps are found where trains would stop.


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## embe (Nov 15, 2021)

Not sure what the laws are in your area but most railway property is private and punishable by law.  Especially if it's active.  Not being critical, just a heads up from a safety perspective.

And I imagine most stuff tossed off trains got the old random heave-ho.


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## PlaneDiggerCam (Nov 15, 2021)

embe said:


> Not sure what the laws are in your area but most railway property is private and punishable by law.  Especially if it's active.  Not being critical, just a heads up from a safety perspective.
> 
> And I imagine most stuff tossed off trains got the old random heave-ho.


Definitely a good idea to check laws! If you can't dig on the land, look for any rail bridges over creeks in your area, creekwalk the creeks near the bridges as stuff would be pitched into the water.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Nov 16, 2021)

Trestle is a spot frequently used. I know of one in N.Y. it is inactive but still there, it runs across a major swamp estuary. Some of the stickiest mud I've ever ran in to. Loads of bottles, china and loads of old brick. Great spot for after storms. Always stuff sticking out of the bank. Where I used to live, some people threw their garbage over the fence onto the railroad property. They even grew vegetable gardens. Used it like it was theirs. Usually nothing in them. I don't like being behind houses anyway. I feel odd in creeks behind houses also, maybe just me but I respect their privacy even if I have every right to be where I am. Where I go there is a dirt access road that runs right along side the tracks. People use it all the time traveling miles up and down the river. There are parks to have lunch off of it and boat launches. Always traffic or people walking there. So not really frowned upon if I snoop around I figured. Try that in N.J. and I bet they call the police on you in 2 seconds flat. Be safe and good luck.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## dario (Nov 17, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> New to the forum and bottle digging and look forward to learning from you all. One thing I’ve got in my mind I want to try my hand at is finding old railroad dump sites. In my area one of the oldest things to be found are the railroads. I’ve started walking them and found some neat insulators and a few odds and ends here and there. My question is are general rules of thumb to look for dump sites? Were they near the last stop before a city, in the middle of nowhere far away from cities, near water so that they could get water when dumping, etc.. I know a lot of this will be walking and probing, but curious of ideas to narrow it down some.


If you need any advice on the insulators, feel free to ask.  That is my thing.  Thanks.  Dario


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## SKS.TUSC (Nov 17, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> New to the forum and bottle digging and look forward to learning from you all. One thing I’ve got in my mind I want to try my hand at is finding old railroad dump sites. In my area one of the oldest things to be found are the railroads. I’ve started walking them and found some neat insulators and a few odds and ends here and there. My question is are general rules of thumb to look for dump sites? Were they near the last stop before a city, in the middle of nowhere far away from cities, near water so that they could get water when dumping, etc.. I know a lot of this will be walking and probing, but curious of ideas to narrow it down some.


From hours and hours of research iv read, 1-3 things were connected when finding bottles. The thinking was waterways were landfills, cemetery's were considered toxic so they usually put dumps & cemeteries together, and railroads of course was how people traveled which created trash. Find a railroad & waterway together (look), find a old cemetery (look), find a cemetery & waterway (look), find all 3 together in the same general area (definitely look)!


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## Fenndango (Nov 19, 2021)

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Trestle is a spot frequently used. I know of one in N.Y. it is inactive but still there, it runs across a major swamp estuary. Some of the stickiest mud I've ever ran in to. Loads of bottles, china and loads of old brick. Great spot for after storms. Always stuff sticking out of the bank. Where I used to live, some people threw their garbage over the fence onto the railroad property. They even grew vegetable gardens. Used it like it was theirs. Usually nothing in them. I don't like being behind houses anyway. I feel odd in creeks behind houses also, maybe just me but I respect their privacy even if I have every right to be where I am. Where I go there is a dirt access road that runs right along side the tracks. People use it all the time traveling miles up and down the river. There are parks to have lunch off of it and boat launches. Always traffic or people walking there. So not really frowned upon if I snoop around I figured. Try that in N.J. and I bet they call the police on you in 2 seconds flat. Be safe and good luck.
> ROBBYBOBBY64.


And the police show up 2 hours later lol


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## Bottle 2 Rocks (Nov 19, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> New to the forum and bottle digging and look forward to learning from you all. One thing I’ve got in my mind I want to try my hand at is finding old railroad dump sites. In my area one of the oldest things to be found are the railroads. I’ve started walking them and found some neat insulators and a few odds and ends here and there. My question is are general rules of thumb to look for dump sites? Were they near the last stop before a city, in the middle of nowhere far away from cities, near water so that they could get water when dumping, etc.. I know a lot of this will be walking and probing, but curious of ideas to narrow it down some.


Proceed to the tracks, if you hear rumbling put your ear to the track and listen. If a loud horn disrupts you please roll to the side away from rails. After this near death experience proceed north 20 miles then turn left into the woods. There must be sticker bushes and a swarm of mosquitos or your not in the right place. Only after deer ticks start showing up in droves on your pant legs should you begin to dig. Didn't find anything huh? Maybe it was to the south then.


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## Lbrewer42 (Nov 19, 2021)

Woodsy said:


> I can post some pictures but from what I’ve read they are more common ones. Hemingway 42, 45 & 46


HeminGray or H.G.Co.  My spell check likes to change it to the author's name also!
 Hemingray made made a lot of bottles, lamps, and other glassware as well.
The 42 and 45 are common, but I am pretty sure that "46" is a typo?  I don't believe Hemingray made with number 46.  I have just a few insulators around the house and outside 

@dario...What is the world coming to?  They let YOU On here?     
Don't let him fool you anyone!  He knows so little about insulators that he is literally the insulator hobby's owner/caretaker of the system we use to identify every North American glass insulator (the CD numbering system)!  He is a hobby celebrity who everyone goes to in order to get a new assignments for newly discovered insulators fro North America.  I had to toot his horn for him b/c he is also a very humble guy!


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## Old man digger (Nov 19, 2021)

Lbrewer42 said:


> HeminGray or H.G.Co.  My spell check likes to change it to the author's name also!
> Hemingray made made a lot of bottles, lamps, and other glassware as well.
> The 42 and 45 are common, but I am pretty sure that "46" is a typo?  I don't believe Hemingray made with number 46.  I have just a few insulators around the house and outside
> 
> ...


Here in my area of Pa. they will put the handcuffs on you and cart you off to the local state police barracks. Railroad cops enforce their no trespass rules with vim and vigor.


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## Woodsy (Nov 19, 2021)

Lbrewer42 said:


> HeminGray or H.G.Co.  My spell check likes to change it to the author's name also!
> Hemingray made made a lot of bottles, lamps, and other glassware as well.
> The 42 and 45 are common, but I am pretty sure that "46" is a typo?  I don't believe Hemingray made with number 46.  I have just a few insulators around the house and outside
> 
> ...


He (Dario) has been very generous and helped me with a few newbie questions already. Stand up guy for sure.


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## SKS.TUSC (Dec 16, 2021)

Lbrewer42 said:


> HeminGray or H.G.Co.  My spell check likes to change it to the author's name also!
> Hemingray made made a lot of bottles, lamps, and other glassware as well.
> The 42 and 45 are common, but I am pretty sure that "46" is a typo?  I don't believe Hemingray made with number 46.  I have just a few insulators around the house and outside
> 
> ...


Jealous, just Jealous.
Yes I came here just to say that!


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