Hi Dennis,

     Call them what you will, the y took me by surprise. I think of such things

as being largely European, much like what I see used in Russia or Ukraine

whenever Tanya and I go back to her home in Russia, which we have kept,

and what was seen last fall from Munich to Budapest, though rail clips seem

to be more common with concrete ties. Just how much use of these "screw

spikes" was made in North America? sort of reminds me of the Belfast &

Moosehead Lake in Maine which uses butt joints. That is joints side-by-side

in both rails rather than staggered.

Cordially, Don Valentine