Not a complete train-wreck, but pretty close.

[BarnacleBill]

It was a beautiful day today in the upper fifties, so one to be taken advantage of before the snow arrives. We have had so much rain lately that the fall lake draw down has not happened. The dams are all open but the rain is filling the lakes faster than they can drain. This has caused me some consternation as I have my usual list of beaches to hit before freeze up.

Not wanting to waste the day I decided to hunt an old railroad station which is pictured below in a photo probably from 1890 or so.

[attachment 40292 trwhit.jpg]

Knowing that train stations can be challenges because of what's in the ground around them I decided to use two detectors. The X70 fitted with the HF elliptical DD and a Fisher Edge with a 5.75 inch concentric. The ground conditions ended up being a witches brew of the likes I've never seen before. The ballast used was crushed basalt, mixed with coal, coal slag that had rust covering it, and just for good measure they had asphalted in between the ties which was now broken up and mixed in.

There was iron everywhere, old buried cans, pieces of trains and modern trash. Trying to find a coil width space to GB in without a target was quite a chore. But I had visions of old silver down between those tracks. And after four hours I had a single rosie to show for my troubles, and the Westclox Pocket Ben Conductor's Watch which was only down about an inch and found with the X70.


[attachment 40294 conductorwatch.jpg]

Conditions were so hideous that at one point using the Edge I spied an intact 22 cart on the surface which the Edge could not see rubbing the coil on it. There was iron under the surface that was so severe it was masking a surface target. I picked it up and it ID'd fine in the air. After 4 hours of switching between the two detectors, I even broke out the CZ20 I carry to see if I could get a peek below the surface. No such luck, I might as well have been detecting on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Those bloody coins are down there, I know they are, but until I find something that can see down through that mess, they're going to stay there. The saving grace was that it was a beautiful day to be outside, and any day you're healthy with nice weather swinging a coil ain't bad at all.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[cannonball]

n/t

 

[Monte]

All manner of small and large iron trash, other non-iron trash, and an ample amount of ground issues to deal with.

That's why I have had me best success with, and prefer to use, a model that has a small coil available (Hellooo Minelab!!), and also features a variable discriminate control rather than a segmented notch discriminate design. That way I can 'fine-tune' for just the slight amount of iron rejection I might want at a given site.

My preference is also for a manually ground balanced model, too. While the X-Terra 70 is a good detector and has ample ground balance adjustment, it still lacks the availability of a good small concentric coil (I prefer concentric most of the time). On my last two trips to the old RR ghost town sites I was unable to use the X-Terra's for long due to the large coils VS abundant trash, brush and building rubble.

If they get a smaller coil out for them, I hope you take it back there and see how you do. Slow sweeps and minimal discrimination are important, too.

Still, I'll send my congrats on making any finds in such fun locations.

Monte

 

[BarnacleBill]

As chance would have it there is a strong local Railroad enthusiast club that was holding their monthly meeting this AM, and it was open to the public. They are restoring track lines for use with Speeders that many of them own. http://users2.ev1.net/~cleveland/speeder/speeder.htm

I attended the meeting and after it was over, approached the president of the club to inquire about the location of stations that are long gone. Most of the tracks in my state have been abandoned by the RR companies and are in the hands of the state. These track lines have a 66ft right of way corridor along them which gives me the right under a state law to detect within these right of ways. Therefore in the future I may do more work on the RR as time permits.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

That watch sure is a great find Bill.
This may sound like a bit of a long shot (not to mention, labour intensive) but how would you go if you physically sifted the soil on a site like this? It would improve your odds if the extra work doesn't kill you.
Just a thought.
Mick Evans.

 

[BarnacleBill]

Hi Mick,

In this location a local Fraternal Organization is using the old station as a clubhouse, therefore I am trying to tread lightly. The tracks are also used as a snowmobile trail in the winter, and maintained(mowed etc) by the local snowmobile club. So I also don't want to alarm any of these individuals by setting up a sifter and going at it with a spade shovel.

Though under my state's law I have every right to do it, I also don't want to get anyone fired up enough to challenge the law, especially a snowmobile club or an International Fraternal Organization.

Now if I were out in the Bush, get the big'un out of the trunk boyz!!!
[attachment 40533 Backhoe-02.gif]


HH
BarnacleBill

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

You are more of a man then me. I found an old railroad station from studying old books. All that is left is the slab and a LOT OF TRASH. I got tired of digging railroad spikes. I don't have the right coil to get the job done. May be someday.