Ha, your picture of the railroad spike reminds me of a funny story.. I took my kids several years ago to visit my great-grandmothers house in PA. I showed them where I used to play on the tracks right behind her house. My oldest son (8 at the time) found a spike and took it back to our hotel.
I forgot about it, until we were at the airport and the alarms went off. We were surrounded by 4 TSA agents, who pulled it from the bag. Luckily a reasonable supervisor was there who let him keep his treasure, and let us board the plane. Was certainly exciting for a few minutes though!
My first reaction to your spike story was to laugh.. But To think not to long ago of all the freedoms we took for granted.. Now it seems when ever bad things happen our government must restrict us all in some way..I like my freedom..