Don't take things from the outback, like these people did!

5 years, good luck to you.
I'm with you, take only photos and memories.

Have a great safe trip.

Wato

Then there's the (true) story of Len Beadell giving a talk at a local Service Club. Afetr the meeting a guy approcahed Len, and proudly claimed he had one of Len's original plaques hanging behing his bar at home !!
Needless to say- Len was NOT impressed !!

Karen

Yeah, well...I have a different take on it. First of all if you get one of those spikes in your tyre you can kiss the latter goodbye.

We are all collectors of some sorts. Some collect rocks, some collect ironware, some steal roadsigns and so on.

Maybe people who are collecting stuff like spikes from the old rail line, should be praised as they are contributing to cleaning up the environment. As you travel around this country you will see mining junk lying everywhere, railway junk in many places and especially the Old Ghan Line. The famous Len Beadell working party left an inordinate amount of fuel drums and stuff etc lying about just beacuse the Government of the Day could not be bothered to retrieve it.
In some areas where communities have thrived at one stage now only ghost towns remain with junk flapping in the wind or rusting in the dust. I can take you to 5 remote communities where the whole town has been abandoned and everything is left for the desert to cover in over time.

So in the scheme of things...picking up a few rusty railway spikes is no big deal.

I know..leave only footprints (or tyre tracks or wheel ruts through the dried mud) and take only photos. It has a nice ring to it :-)

Cheers...and enjoy your travels.

Hi Karen & Geoff,
Don't worry, there are thousands of those spikes out there so you will see heaps of them. All the sleepers and rails have already been taken though :-))

KK

I also don't have a problem with people taking old railway spikes.

They are just junk lying around, really.

I wish someone had taken the one that destroyed a tyre of mine once.

There is no way I would remove plaques etc but I must admit that when we lived in the Pilbara I did grab spikes from the old railway line. When home my husband made them into coat hooks by mounting them into a piece of jarrah. I remember where I picked each of them up when I hang hats and coats.

When I visit old ruin sites I take plenty of photos but nothing else as I love finding stuff and I know many others do too but find it a real shame when some people go through and smash plates and bottle. Yes, I do realise that sometimes the breakages actually occur by cattle trampling.

Do enjoy your trip - which way are you going first? We may see you out there as Ian and I leave in four weeks for the biggy!

I just enjoyed an hour of reading their blog. Excellent trip. We will do some of those roads soon.

I was as disappointed as they were when I read about the bloke at the Pink Roadhouse. But like they said we only saw a little of what was going on in his head. We also have never had any trouble like that.

About the spikes. I agree - leave them there. I move them out of the way and don't take the spikes or whatever home. Even though I am into model railways I would not take them.

I wouild also suggest that they are not "railway memoriabillia" collectors so what they did was not in the right spirit. (Spelling?????)

But please read the bolg - its interesting.

Phil

Not only do I have a few Ghan spikes at home, but some from the Gulflander track up at Croydon too - fact is, these things are simply 'industrial waste' (despoiling the landscape possibly) - the fettlers just tossed dog spikes, fish plates, nuts and bolts to the trackside because they weren't worth carting back to base. The natural and built environments are of course a whole other topic, deserving the greatest respect and care !

Its hard to draw an exact line on what may be retrieved and what shouldn't.

Rail spikes lying rusting in the sand are fair game, as are telegraph line insulators (but not if they are mounted on a pole).

I picked up a piece of iron in the Grt Vic Desert. Turns out it was a bit of a drill bit that is after all just industrial waste.

Should car batteries or tyres be left lying decaying beside the road? Should upturned and burned out Commodores and Falcons be left where they are? Or box trailers? Or burned out Prados?

What about a length of barbed wire? Or bits of a blue streak rocket? Or empty Spam cans?

Bob

Hi Karen,

Have a great trip - 5 years sounds a long time but it will probably fly by!

Like others we have a couple of railway spikes. Its a fine line between rubbish and waste on the one hand and heritage items on the other. As others have said there is a mass of old mining "stuff" left all over the place. Newer mining activities now are supposed to clean up - so no bits to become "heritage". Is this a good or bad thing? Overall I think its a matter for common sense (yes I know it can be a rare thing). Ripping stuff apart of taking quantities is not acceptable.

Each trip we do I collect a few bits and pieces - rocks, minerals, seed pods mainly plus a few other odds and ends. Space and weight dictates that the collection is very limited - about half a shopping bag at most. When we get home they go into a glass cylinder as a reminder of our trip, to complement the photos. They are great memory joggers.

Cheers,

Val

At least they're not stealing wildlife like some of those a-holes who decide they want a new pet but know nothing about caring for them.

If everbody collected some railway spikes from the old Ghan then my son won't be able to collect them when I take him up there!

I have some railway spikes, one is from the old Ghan and the others from an old track in Port Augusta, SA. Although I tell everybody they're all from out bush lol. Although it is intersting looking at the old bridges and buildings etc to see how they were built and coped with the desert weather.

Fossicking for old bits of steel is one thing, taking Aboriginal artifacts is unforgiveable.

Some very interesting points of view.

So it's acceptable to some to take old bits and pieces left by "whitefellas" as they are simply discarded industrial rubbish but absolutely unforgivable to take aboriginal "artifacts" such as broken grinding stones etc.

Maybe I simplify things a little too much but aren't they the same thing??

Hi Karen & Geoff,

Have a good trip around Oz, you'll love it, be sure to stop in & say g'day on your way past.

As for souveniring dog spikes from the old Ghan, there are millions of the things out there, they even give one to whoever finishes the Finke Desert race.

While your travelling have a look at some of the old cattle yards built around here, most are made out of railway line from the old Ghan, also a lot of the station houses are built from recycled buildings from the old telegraph stations.

Gday,
Why?.....because they make good bottle openers.

Cheers

".... but the ones they were taking were still connected to the rail line."

Well that's an interesting concept!

Does this mean they were removing the dog spikes from an active rail line? - very irresponsible if they are. And I'd be intrigued to see how they did it, given the effort required to put them in in the first place!

The dog spikes hold the rail to the sleepers which keep the rails at the required distance apart so the trains stay on the track. Missing dog spikes provides the potential for derailments to occur.

Not sure if that was what was actually being suggested?

LES

While travelling around central Queensland I bought home a couple of Moon Rocks. Found out afterwards that they are illegal to collect. Also collected some Dinosaur bones. Those you can keep.
Metal Spikes? To me they sound boring.

So much pontificating about a few old spikes and not one picture.Image Could Not Be FoundWell I can show a picture if not settle an argument.

There are thousands, maybe tens of thousand, even millions of these hazards on the track. For those who may not be aware part of the track follows the original railway line and that is where the picture was taken. Image Could Not Be Found Here is a close up of this relic.

Just looking at these pictures from last year brings back memories of all the trash around the place. What do you think of this one? Image Could Not Be Found Should it be saved?

My view is on the track where you drive and run over these things, that every so often destroy a tyre, they are fair game but those not on the track should be left alone.

Flynnie

Karen & Geoff,

When I lived in Oodnadatta, there was a railway locomotive workshop shed, it is not there now.

I am pretty sure that tourist have not taken that as a souvenir.

Enjoy your 5 years on the road.

Karen & Geoff ... enjoy your trip ... maybe even collect a few items as mementos ...

I normally base the very few bits I have collected on their importance ... An abandoned rail spike is nothing and wont be missed ... but a door handle from an abandoned building where someone used to live, or raised a family, or maybe died has different connotations to me ... and is left alone.

Same goes for "cultural" bits ... A tiny, broken bit of - POSSIBLY worked stone, is also nothing but I never bother picking them up as better examples can be found for perusal at display centres. Chipping off rock art or purloining a skull is another matter entirely tho ... and is to me, abhorrent.


Re: .. FollowupID: 673133

G'Day Willem ...

Im all for preservation of actual, artefacts ... and the truly "religious" areas etc - relating to previous occupiers of this landmass before white settlement.

I have seen some excellent and even sometimes breathtaking examples such as the multitude of different art styles across the country, tree burials, the man-made hollow rock mounds in the NthWest, apparently used as eagle traps or something, and the list goes on.

Quite a few of the sights seen were not even known to the "locals" .... who only lived 5 & 10 klm away ... which accentuates my slightly cynical attitude in regard as to ... how important is ALL this stuff really ???

However the tenacious attitudes of those generally non-indigenous zealots who wish to protect EVERY LITTLE BIT of broken stone astounds me ... as these items are common all over the world because they are just fragments of discarded broken tools which are naught but rubbish ... left behind by prehistoric peoples.

On the occasions that good Australian examples ... Lets say 75% complete (just as an example) ... are found ... Then sure ... make them part of display in LandCouncil museums so that they can be protected, appreciated and learnt from.

And its not always little broken stones that are given, over emphasised recognition ... some times its the strange tree carvings that have a gazillion years of culture ... but actually turn out to be imbedded barb wire ... or the large rock owned by someones ancestor in the district .... that turns out to be road fill ... trucked in from a quarry from somewhere else ...

Im also ... all for the preservation of latterday "artefacts" ... Not so much rail spikes laying all over the ground ... but perhaps sections of the line ??.

Just the same as Kiandra should be more than just a sign ... and Clewesies hut should be more than just a stone with a plaque ... and lets not forget, Len Beadalls signs shouldnt be hanging over someones private bar ... back in the 'burbs.

Recent "artefacts" are testimony of the achievements of people since the 1700s ... We white australians dont have much history and we should be preserving decent examples of it ... but I dont include rail spikes, abandoned oil drums or sheets of corro as decent examples ... unless displayed as a collective, at rellevant geographical locations.

In regard to the wanton ransacking of Egypt and even other places .... Oh ... I think I already answered your question ...


Timbo .... In regard to your posts ....

Its a dangerous and delicate balancing act ... walking the tightrope between Racism and Reality ... isnt it ???