286 LOGGING 



Cattle Guards. — Log roads that pass over private lands or 

 cross public highways use cattle guards to prevent stock from 

 passing down the right-of-way. The usual type is an open pit 

 3 or 4 feet deep, 5I feet long and 3 or 4 feet wide, which is in- 

 closed with a frame of 12- by 12 -inch timbers. A division fence 

 extends from the guard to the highway fence. 



This form of cattle guard is dangerous if cars are derailed 

 on them, because the trucks will drop into the pit. Animals 

 also may fall in and cause a wreck. They are, however, a 

 convenient and cheap form to construct and are in favor on 

 that account. 



TRACK SUPPLIES 



Crossties. — The size of crossties used depends on the gauge 

 of the road. They may be sawed or hewed. Narrow-gauge ties 

 are made 6 or 7 feet long and standard-gauge ones are 8 feet. 

 Squared ties are frequently 6 by 8 inches in size and pole ties 

 for a narrow gauge have a 3- to 5-inch face, and for a standard- 

 gauge a 6-inch face. 



Ties are usually cut on the operation and are made both from 

 hardwoods and softwoods. The work is generally performed by 

 contract, the rate being from 10 cents to 15 cents each for making 

 standard ties and from 8 to 10 cents for narrow-gauge pole ties. 

 Hauling to the railroad costs from 2 to 4 cents per tie and load- 

 ing on cars from i to 2 cents. 



An expert tie hacker will hew thirty-live or forty standard 

 ties per day, an average man twenty-five or thirty. 



They are placed at 2-foot intervals, center to center, on main 

 lines and spurs. On the latter they wear out before they decay, 

 because of the frequent pulling and driving of spikes. 



Crossties of special length are required for a switch. The 

 timbers in a set for a single switch range in length from 9 to 15 

 feet and the number varies with the frog; e.g., a number 8 frog 

 requires 47 and a number 10 frog 56. These are often sawed 

 out in the mill. On rough track the long switch ties may be 

 replaced by two standard length ties. 



