Sounds like it would require an awful lot of effort to pull the spikes out.
>>”Sounds like it would require an awful lot of effort to pull the spikes out.”
Yes, a special tool, and much labor. The track where I used to live typically had freight trains rolling through every half hour or so. They would almost certainly be seen by a train crew. They would also be facing a Felony Murder charge if a derailment cost someone his life; at the very least, Depraved Indifference. They could have made more money, and with little risk, picking up aluminum cans.
Therefore, I think one of two things (nay, three things) is most likely true:
1. They were ACTUALLY merely picking up used castoffs, and the story is wrong.
2. Their full intent was sabotage, and keeping the spikes was a bonus.
3, Being criminaliens, they assumed they would not be held to account.
DG