otisdog

Deadly looking horn.....

Southern Pacific Railroad was never in West Virginia....Southern Railway, perhaps? Nice pieces....

Well, this is the Anvil forum.... Blacksmithing topics are (ahem) on the blacksmith forum...

Yes, but.... I did a show in the dead of winter in SLC, and we had to drive to the first town out of state (Evanston) to have fun...

Evanston?

Gorgeous!!! I'm going to nominate this as "the score of the year!"

Look at a forged locomotive side rod....they look polished. The tradesman in the locomotive shops were some of the most skilled of their craft. As far as the bottom depression - that's there so that the anvil sits properly and doesn't rock, correct? Why would you go to the trouble to forge an anvil, and omit a detail that helps its' functionality?

Maybe the same reason that the others did their base depressions?

My take is that it wasn't forged by any of the above suggestions makers. Huntington, West Virginia was home to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads large steam shop. This is where they had the ability to do anything needed to service the very large steam locomotives that hauled the heavy coal trains through the adjoining mountains. They had no problem forging replacement side rods and other massive pieces needed to keep the locomotives running....so it would be no problem to knock out an anvil. It would be cheaper than buying it, no doubt. They often used an existing "store bought" anvil as pattern, so it is no surprise that the folks posting above can see simularities with other, known manufacturers. I have a 400 pound anvil that was made by the Southern Pacific Railroad shops in Sacramento, California (I think...Sacramento was the home of their large steam shops, just as Huntington was the home of the B&O shops, and my anvil came from Truckee, Ca. which is up the main line from Sacramento, but 5,787 feet higher in elevation.). My anvil is a dead ringer for a Hay Budden, but it has no identifying marks on it of any kind. The only thing that ties it to the railroad is the very distinct green paint that the S.P. painted all their maintenance tools, and where it came from. So that's my theory...Mine rings like a bell, and has great rebound. I enjoy this anvil so much I sold my 400 pound Fisher. Oh, and very nice anvil. What happened to the 500 pound Hay Budden?

Not to be a frump button, but taking anything out of Death Valley, a National Park, is a federal crime. All the old mines, their related equipment such as wheels and gears, anything and everything, is protected.

No, they shut down. 25 & 100 pound little giants sold. along with another power hammer. A nice Hay Budden which looked about 450 pounds went for $2k plus premium. I bought a bucket of hand made chains..

The Stihl 028 is one of the better saws that they made...$ 100 buys you a new piston & barrel.

I sold a "regular" 400 pound Fisher in Southern California recently for $ 2,400.

Heel looks way too thick for a Fisher, plus I'm not seeing the thick faceplate common to the brand.

Interesting that the word was censored in my post but not the original one. Funny, but I have heard the offending word often in church....and they don't swear in my church. Last post on the subject, we're here to talk anvils...

My point being, xxxx is not swearing in the singular... as in "look it up".

Maybe I can help... First, where are you located? Where was the railroad shop? I have a very similar anvil, it's even green like yours. Has no makings, like yours. Mines 400 pounds. Mine came from the town of Truckee, California. Truckee is around 6400 feet in elevation, in the California Sierra. What does this have to do with anything? I started wondering how and why someone would have such a big chunk of metal, and how difficult it would be to get said chunk of metal up to that altitude. Truckee lies on what was the Southern Pacific Railroad mainline. Southern Pacific paints their "maintenance of way" railroad cars and tools green. Large railroads had, at the time, the means to forge massive metal pieces, like the side rods of a steam locomotive. Whipping out a run of anvils would be no big thing for a steam shop...they were forging parts on a daily basis. No need to put identifying marks on their anvils, they were kept captive in their shops. Mine looks like a Hay-Budden knock off...it is shaped very similar to one. My anvil was painted a bit more mint green...found the color once I had removed the white paint that it wore when it resided in its owners yard...also came with a cast stand. Mine also rings like a bell and rebounds quite well. Enjoy it and use it in good health, it is a great first (and maybe last?) anvil. As an aside....warning someone about the use of the word xxxx? Really? Might want to look it up.

Xxxx of a first anvil....one and done! It is in beautiful shape.

I've got a similarly shaped anvil with the same stand, but no markings at all, no handling holes, either. Weighs 396 pounds, but the dimensions don't jive with the HB catalogue. Mines got a face plate...does yours?

You could actually order a "swell horn" HB....

How much did it cost you to 'find' this big pig?

That table is going to break!

A $ 10 dollar anvil! Wow! Looks nice...

Is that thing as big as it looks?

Because they are rarer, they are more addicting! Come out to the west coast, if you think that they're rare there.