690 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 

 STRINGERS AND TIES OF AVOOD. 



The high price of iron led the engineers of many early roads, built 

 upon a small capitalization to design a superstructure composed mainly 

 of wood, as little iron as possible being used. The wooden rail, capped 

 with strap-iron, previously alluded to, was attached to longitudinal 

 stringers, and these were kept ' ; in line " by cross timbers 4, 5, and some- 

 times 6 feet apart. 



On roads laid with English T-rails in chairs, or with the Stevens rail 

 spiked to the support, the necessity for a longitudinal support for the 

 rail did not exist, and the stringer being dispensed with, it became nec- 

 essary to put the cross-ties closer together. 



Ties have been used from time to time of various widths, lengths, 

 and thicknesses, split, sawed, and hewn, as illustrated in Figs. 9G, 97, 

 and 98. 



Fig. 96. 

 Cross-tie— Split quarter Log. 



Fig. 97. 

 Cross-tie— Split half Lou. 



The specifications for cross-ties now require that they be hewn on 

 both sides, as shown in Fig. 98, and that they be cut to exact lengths, 

 96 or 102 inches. 



Fig. 98. 

 Cross-tie— Whole Log hewn both sides. 



METAL TIES. 



The extensive use of metal ties in foreign countries has led a few 

 American managers to put down a limited number of experimental iron 

 ties on their roads. About two thousand iron ties of the standard 

 adopted by the London and Northwestern Railway of England, were 



