Crosstie Evolution 



One of the most interesting things about modern life, with its 

 rapid development of new and revohitionary ideas, is the way in 

 which standing predictions, which have readied the point where they 

 are accepted, largely by force of re})etition, as absolute truth, are 

 smashed into smithereens. Some proposition which has been quoted 

 and requoted and used as the basis of many a learned discussion, is 

 suddenly knocked clear out of the situation by the interposition of a 

 new and altogether unexpected factor. 



A fine example of this is the cross-tie business. The field for the 

 use of ties is immense, since the present mileage of the railways of 

 the country, taking renewals only into account, requires the use of 

 125,000,000 ties a year. Owing to the rise in the price of white oak 

 timber and the consequent increase in the cost of ties made of this ma- 

 terial, the introduction of the concrete ties was followed by the an- 

 nouncement, from the interests concerned with the production of steel 

 and cement, that soon nothing else would be used by the transporta- 

 tion companies. And that would possibly have been the case, if the 

 wood-preserver hadn't come along and knocked those predictions into 

 a cocked hat. 



At present, with the development in the use of the treated tie the 

 most phenomenal feature of the forest products situation (perhaps 

 excepting the development of wooden block paving, which is in the 

 same class) the chances favor the relegation of the concrete tie to the 

 rear, for there is every argument against it. Those who dislike to 

 face a heavy first cost refuse to use it, and, on the contrary, those 

 who are looking for a low annual cost find in the creosoted tie a better 

 proposition than one made of reinforced concrete. 



The latter has not proved satisfactory in actual service, either, a 

 recent wreck which occurred at a point where the rails were affixed 

 to concrete ties developing the fact that, owing to the inability of the 

 tie to absorb expansion and contraction,- the bolts holding the rail to 

 the tie had been sheared. Thus the big feature in favor of the use 

 of wood ties — their resiliency and elasticity — is again emphasized. 

 There are other features which make the concrete proposition less 

 desirable, and consequently it is not likely to make much further 

 headway. 



Looking at it purely from the standpoint of dollars-and-cents. the 

 comparison figures out favorably to the wooden tie. A steel and con- 

 crete tie, laid in place, costs about $2.50. It will last, at a liberal 

 estimate, not more tlian thirty years. This is an annual cost of eight 

 and a third cents. A treated red oak tie costs, on an average, forty- 

 five cents at the mill; thirty cents for the creosoted treatment; 

 twenty-five cents for freight and twenty-five more for labor. This is 

 the top price for labor and the other items, as ties can be put in 

 place under favorable conditions for twelve and a half cents. The 

 total cost, laid down, is $1.25. It is estimated that red oak ties 

 which have been creosoted will last for twenty years, and on this 

 basis the annual cost is six cents a year, a reduction of about twenty- 

 five per cent compared with concrete ties. 



An interesting point about the use of preservatives on ties is that 

 it has ruled out, for this kind of service, the material which was for- 

 merly used almost exclusively for tie purposes — white oak. The 

 "pits" of its surface are closed and it is impervious to the action 

 of the preservative, the very quality which makes it excellent as an 

 untreated tie rendering it unsuitable for treatment by the preservers. 

 Locust and heart pine (long-leaf), which are used untreated, cannot 

 be satisfactorily creosoted, but hickory, which has come into some 

 use since the preserving methods began to be generally favored, is 

 susceptible to treatment with creosote. 



Carrying the comparison of cost forward, and figuring the average 

 price of white oak ties at seventy cents, the cost of the treated red 

 oak tie, seventy-five cents, is a little greater and therefore the use of 

 treated materia! involves a greater initial outlay than is necessitated 

 by the purchase of white oak. For that reason many roads are still 

 using white oak, though the average life of an untreated white oak 

 tie is only eight or nine years (twelve years under favorable condi- 



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tions, and only six or seven iu the South), and the treated wood is 

 relied on to last for twenty. 



The figures given in the latter connection, it must be admitted, are 

 only estimates, because the first creosoted ties laid down in this coun- 

 try in quantity were put into service only nine years ago. Since 

 these have shown no sign of decay since then, and since European 

 experience has been exceedingly favorable, it is believed that the 

 estimate is well within bounds. 



Though the railroads have not all been converted to the use of 

 treated ties, the enormous growth in the business shows that the car- 

 riers are coming over rather rapidly. It was stated that 125,000,000 

 ties are used annually in replacement work. In 1908 not more than 

 eight per cent of these were treated ties. This year, it is stated by 

 authorities, fully twenty per cent of the number will be of that char- 

 acter. There are seventy-five plants for creosoting purposes, and the 

 number is growing rapidly. One company, established in 1904, is now 

 building its fourteenth plant, thirteen of them having been put up 

 since 1907, so that the big gains have all been within the past five 

 years. 



Those who are interested in the development of wood-preserving 

 from an economic standpoint believe that it is working a remarkable 

 change for the better. Heretofore ties have had to be cut out of 

 white oak trees, and while many of them were produced from timber 

 that could not have been made into high-grade lumber or used for 

 other purposes, yet an enormous quantity of ties was converted from 

 trees that could have been sawed into boards and made into all sorts 

 of valuable and beautiful articles. And the tie manufacturers fre- 

 quently forced into service small oak trees which, if they had been 

 allowed to grow for fifteen years more, would have been easily con- 

 vertible into much greater values in other forms. 



Thus the entrance of wood-preserving methods has enabled many 

 inferior woods, which under former conditions could never have been 

 used for tie purposes, to be utilized for this work and has made it 

 possible for white oak to be reserved for other purposes for which it 

 is better suited. On the other hand, it has resulted in the timberman 

 being able to work a tract dean, since he need not discriminate, for 

 the most part, but can cut nearly all the timber his land carries, 

 knowing that by the use of a preserving treatment he can make prac 

 tically all of it useful in tie work. Thus, instead of leaving land 

 cumbered with scattered dumps of relatively useless timber, it is all 

 being worked up and put to good use. 



Just contrast the situation, as far as utilization of woods is con- 

 cerned, before treatment was introduced and after. In the first ease 

 the materials available were white oak, locust, bois d'arc, heart-wood 

 of the long-leaf pine, swamp-cypress and chestnut. Chestnut that 

 could be used untreated for tie purposes, however, was found princi- 

 pally in the East, the southern varieties giving relatively poor service. 

 The harder chestnut of the eastern sections frequently lasted for eight 

 or nine years. But the kinds named practically close the list. 



Today, with preserving treatments used, the tie manufacturer ajid 

 the railroad are able to utUize all of the black, oaks, such as red oak, 

 yellow oak, pin oak, jack oak, etc.; beech, birch, maple, elm, gum, 

 ash, hickory, sassafras, hackberry, poplar and the cottonwood tribe; 

 sycamore, and others of the broad-leaf species, and cone-bearing trees 

 such as the loblolly, shortleaf pine, Douglas fir, tamarack, hemlock 

 and white cypress. Some of these woods would have lasted from 

 three to five years without treatment; with it, they give service of 

 from twelve to twenty years. As many of the kinds named have 

 little value for lumber or other purposes, it is a great economic benefit 

 that they can be put to good use in the railroad tie field through the 

 application of creosote and other preservatives. 



Oil of creosote is the generally favored preservative at present, 

 zinc chloride, which has been used to a considerable extent, not having 

 been found altogether satisfactory. It is used by applying a bath 

 containing the salt in solution, the evaporation of the water leaving 

 it in the wood. It is an excellent antiseptic and preserves the wood, 



