Date nails were tagging devices utilized by

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s and utility companies to visually identify the age of

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie ( Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties tran ...

s or

utility pole A utility pole is a column or post typically made out of wood used to support overhead power lines and various other public utilities, such as electrical cable, fiber optic cable, and related equipment such as transformers and street lights. I ...

Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided many budding enthusiasts, including the Wright brothers, with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying ...

, railroad and aviation pioneer, is credited with the idea for using date nails as a way of tracking the life of railroad ties. Different railroads used different sized nails with either alpha or numerical markings. An example would be a Southern Pacific Railroad nail with the marking "01" stamped on the head of the nail. The "01" would identify the nail as being hammered into a railroad tie in the year 1901. Date nails can vary in size, shape, length, material, and rarity. Some railroads used "code nails" which means that the nail was used to mark something other than the date the tie was installed. An example of a code nail would be the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

"FNB" nail meaning First National Bank, which would be hammered into the ends of some C&NW ties. Another example is the Milwaukee Road "R08" nail, where the "R" is an unknown treatment or type of wood, and the numbers indicate the year it was installed. Date nail use has dropped dramatically since the mid-20th century and the advent of more modern

maintenance of way Maintenance of way (commonly abbreviated to MOW) refers to the maintenance, construction, and improvement of rail infrastructure, including tracks, ballast, grade, and lineside infrastructure such as signals and signs. Track The most fundamen ...

equipment. Date nails on American railroads were phased out in the 1970s. Ties are no longer marked in this manner in North American practice, and the nails are now sought after by

railroadiana Railroadiana or railwayana refers to artifacts of currently or formerly operating railways around the world. Railroadiana can include items such as: * Brakeman's or marker lanterns * Date nails, rail spikes, or short sections of rail * Di ...

collectors. The Southern Railway never used date nails. 1943 date nail

Date nails are also found on

s, sometimes in conjunction with a nail showing the height of the pole in feet. The types of nails may have distinguishing characteristics, such as the date nail having raised digits and the "height nail" having incised digits. The pole height will be a multiple of five (e.g., "35" or "40").

References

{{Rail-transport-stub Rail fastening systems Dating methodologies in archaeology