The squeezer became an industry standard, as did Burden's hook-headed railroad spike machine that paved the way for a railroad boom in the U.S. — which Corning capitalized on, incidentally.

A steel railroad spike clad in gold and silver used in the ceremony marking the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, May 10, 1869 (all images courtesy Christie’s) Excitement struck deep ...

Anyway you look at it, it’s a railroad spike. You have to bring it to life and make it look like it’s doing what it’s doing -that to me is art itself,” Torelli says.

Known as Alaska’s Golden Spike, the object represented the completion of the Alaska Railroad in 1923, the construction of which spanned nearly a decade. The 24-carat artifact was originally ...

GOLDEN SPIKE, Northern Pacific Railroad, Montana, Sept. 9.--The last spike on the Northern Pacific Road was driven this afternoon on the Pacific slope of the Rocky Mountains, 2,500 miles from the ...

The Anchorage Museum and the city of Nenana, with financial help from private donors and the Alaska Railroad, won the Christie’s auction for the spike in New York with a bid of $201,600, more ...