About the size of a fig newton cookie, the railroad "torpedo" was used on the CN&L (Columbia, Newberry & Laurens) railroad (later Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Coast Line and now CSX) and most all railroads as a signaling device to alert the train crew that a work crew was working on the track ahead or that there was some danger ahead..

Prior to working on the track, work crews strapped the torpedos to the rail using the soft, lead straps. This device was strapped to the rail about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the work crew. They would be placed in a pattern so that when the oncoming train ran over the torpedos, the train crew would hear a bam...then bam, bam, or some pattern like that to alert them to the work crew ahead. The bang was so loud, that the work crew could hear it, too, alerting them to a train approaching. Once the track work was done for the day, the track crew removed the torpedo(s) prior to leaving the work site.