Dear Friends,
Pop quiz: What is a date nail?
They might be a thing we might hammer into the days we love the best, the ones we don't want to lose, to forget. They could be a pin for the dates to come, a marker for the future. They could be something even less probable, a nail to get the pit out of a date. Or, they could be saved fingernail clippings from the first dates of paramours, which might be saved in in special date nail lockets.
What they really are though, are nails with a date stamped on their heads, to mark when a railroad tie or utility pole was installed or erected. Have a look at part of a really large collection of date nails, from the galleries of the Western American Railroad Museum in Barstow, California.
If you are thinking (as I am) 'hey, how can I get a piece of this action?' Try this site for some advice.
See you on the tracks, Jack!
