Anybody know what steel this is?

[Nowicki]

Anybody know what steel this is?
I found some by the RR tracks along with some spikes. They had reciently replaced some and these were disgarded. I quenched some in water and they got brittle so I guess they have some carbon but how much??

 

[mete]

If I could see it , taste it, and smell it I could tell you what it's made of. Not being a RR man I don't know what it's used for. A spark test could give you some idea. This of course repeats the problem of mystery steel , you never quite know.

 

[Nowicki]

It has a spark similar to 5160.