J -METAL TIES FOR RAILWAYS, AND ECONOMIES IN THE USE 



OF WOODEN TIES. 



E. E. RUSSELL TRATMAN, C. E. 

 Assoc. Mem. Am. Soc. Civ. Engs. Mem. Am. Inst. Min. Eng. 



The use of metal ties as a substitute for wooden ties in railway track has been practiced in 

 foreign countries for many years on a very extensive scale and with great success, but though the 

 matter has been given some attention in this country, very little has been done except in the way 

 of a few small experiments. This is due in part to the general, though erroneous, idea that our 

 still abundant timber resources are inexhaustible; and also to the comparatively high first cost of 

 metal ties (the possible future economy resulting from their use being frequently overlooked). In 

 fact the matter is, on the whole, regarded with indifference. Another reason for this is, perhaps, 

 a tendency to question the application of foreign experience to American railways. There is, 

 too, a wide impression that the use of metal ties in other countries is merely experimental and on 

 a small scale, whereas in point of fact they have been extensively adopted for main lines carrying 1 

 heavy traffic, as well as for lighter lines, and they have certainly long since passed the experi- 

 mental stage. Nearly 35,000 miles of track are now laid with metal ties. 



The writer has given the subject considerable attention for several years past, and in 1887 

 was requested by Mr. B. E. Fernow, then chief of the J)i vision of Forestry, to make a special 

 investigation and report thereon to the Division in the interests of the preservation of the timber 

 resources of the country. Three reports have since been made, forming Bulletins No. 3, No. 4, 

 and No. 9 of the Division of Forestry. The first, in 1889, was a preliminary report of progress. 

 The second and third, issued in 1890 and 1894, were comprehensive reports, giving full particulars 

 of foreign practice and discussing the entire subject. In both of these reports very full details 

 were given of: (1) various forms of metal ties and their fastenings, as well as of the track of 

 which they form a part; (2) the character of the rolling stock and traffic; (3) the results obtained 

 from their use. As there was then no comprehensive work on the subject, special attention was 

 given to describing the ties, fastenings, etc., in detail. The third report (1894) had a somewhat 

 wider scope and included the use of metal tie-plates and preservative processes for increasing the 

 life and efficiency of wooden ties. 



On foreign railways the many improvements in shape, material, and manufacture of steel ties 

 and their fastenings, and the careful investigation as to the work of maintenance, particularly 

 since 1880, are now showing results in decidedly favorable estimates as to maintenance and 

 renewals on railways where steel ties have been extensively and intelligently used. A large 

 number of the important patents on steel ties have now expired and have no longer an influence 

 on the cost of manufacture, so that the various systems can be considered purely on their merits. 

 The consideration of the respective merits of metal and wooden ties is a very important matter 

 in many European and other countries, where, owing to conditions of climate or to the relative 

 cost of timber and steel, the use of metal ties may effect a direct financial economy as well as a 

 general improvement in the track. 



The subject is, perhaps, not of such immediate interest or importance in this country, where 

 timber is still comparatively plentiful. The use of protective steel tie-plates has made the cheaper 

 and inferior qualities of timber largely available for railway service, while the use of preservative 

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