When did those orange carsonite posts start getting used?

[foxtrot_xray]

Have a little bit of a mystery..

 

Near my property, I have a station that was marked as destroyed in 1970. However, there is an orange carsonite post, with NGS/NOAA decal on it near where the station should be.

I have not gone out to start looking for the mark, but am curious when these carsonite posts were first used. Did someone go out after 1970, find the mark and erect a post? And then not update the datasheet? (The original desc in the 30's did not mention a witness post, of any kind.)

[Bill93]

A search finds this:

Carsonite International was founded in 1977 in Carson City, NV, and was relocated to Early Branch, SC.

I don't know if they are all made by that company or if it's like Kleenex with the name being treated generically.

 

 

[foxtrot_xray]

Interesting, thanks. So it's unlikely (based on that info, PLUS the condition that the existing post is in), that it's over 50 years old. I'll have to bring a shovel out there and try and find that station, and then see how to 'undestroy' it. Heh.

[+Ernmark]

..i know a few of us were able to 'undestroy' a station, or at least get it published  

 

I have a few days of vacation next month & I'm hoping to look for a 'destroyed' mountaintop mark while I'm in the area..it is a vacation after all!

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ernmark

[foxtrot_xray]

1 hour ago, Ernmark said:

..i know a few of us were able to 'undestroy' a station, or at least get it published  

 

I have a few days of vacation next month & I'm hoping to look for a 'destroyed' mountaintop mark while I'm in the area..it is a vacation after all!

 

Considering this one borders my (new) property, and I always enjoy finding previously not-found stations, this will be a nice discovery, if I can nail it down!

[+Atlas Cached]

Any updates to share?

[foxtrot_xray]

Yes, and it leads to a little bit more of a mystery...

 

Went out when I could, and started digging around. I did, in fact, find the station that the carsonite post was for!

 

.. But it was NOT for the station that I had expected - it's for an Azimuth mark for a triangulation station, a 3/4 mile away at the top of a mesa. Station has not been recovered since 1958, so the carsonite post is newer than that. Neither the station that is destroyed there, or the description of the AZ mark make references to each other.

 

I have plans on getting the station on the mesa - I need to talk to the ranch owner first. And will need to get a metal detector, and start sweeping the general area for possible hits.

[+Atlas Cached]

The suspense mounts.....

 

[foxtrot_xray]

Seeing as how they're (going to be) a short distance from my new house.. I will get to the bottom of it.

 

Eventually. :D

[+Ernmark]

Any luck?

[foxtrot_xray]

Haven't been able to do any more on-site measuring/plotting of distances yet. However -

 

Since this is along an active rail-line, I need to be careful. BUT - Neither station mentions the other, and neither station shares any of the same witness object distances. At the moment, the missing mark refers to a milepost marker - my first job when I get out there (and have time) next will be to measure from that and get a better idea of where it should be. It's location is scaled, so I know ROUGHLY where it should have been. It's possible that the scaled coords are more off than I was initially hoping.

 

Sadly, while I will try using my metal detector once I have the area narrowed down, it will be difficult - railroad - lots of metal. And steam engines ran along this line, so aside from spikes, tie plates and anchors, there's slag everywhere. It will be difficult.

[foxtrot_xray]

Also - since I'm not living there yet - the builder is just starting to break ground - I likely won't have too much time there until I've moved in. So, hopefully, a year from now I will have some good news.

[Bill93]

Remember that scaled coordinates were truncated, not rounded. So if they are good the mark is north and west of them.

[foxtrot_xray]

Hm. Good point. I already knew the west part (The carsonite'd mark is on the east side, pretty much in the location the scaled mark's coordinates put it. However, the description says the scaled mark is on the other side of the tracks. And being north - that at least narrows down my search by half..)

[Bill93]

The coordinates are not always that good, but it's a place to start when nothing is obvious.

I jumped in here without rereading the thread, so some advice may be irrelevant.

The coords for the older marks were read from a USGS topo map in the 1960's after someone plotted the description.

Sometimes changes in the surroundings caused large errors in figuring out where to plot it. Rerouted highway numbers are a major source of these errors. Ive found a mark at a creek culvert a quarter mile from the coords because that creek wasn't on the map and they plotted it where a creek did show.

But a witness post is nearly always within a few feet of its mark, and it's unlikely to get moved far.