Just the other day I was out on the tracks poking about the poles and happened upon this well hidden and ancient pole ring. Obviously it takes decades upon decades for a creosote pole stump to rot away, so I'd say these pole rings are probably about 60 years old or older to be almost completely gone. The newer poles are from 1' to 5' away from the rings. The burning $64,000 question is....is there anything down there at the base of this pole?:-)