METAL RAILWAY TIES. 897 



processes of chemical treatment lias not yet been developed to any great extent. Nevertheless, 

 in view of the great and steady demand for timber for railway and other purposes, and in view 

 also of the steady reduction in the timber resources by legitimate consumption and various 

 destructive agencies, it seems inevitable that the price of wooden ties will continue to increase. 

 Such an increase in the price of timber, with a reduction in the price of steel, may introduce in 

 this country conditions approximately similar to those which have led to the extensive introduction 

 of steel ties in other countries. 



The relation of this question to the forestry interests, however, is not the only one to be 

 considered. In many instances the use of metal ties may effect a decided improvement in the 

 track and an economy in the expenses for track maintenance. In fact there are j)robab3y many 

 places in this country now where metal ties might be used with advantage. For these reasons 

 therefore it may be said that it will be well for progressive railway men to begin to consider the 

 conditions under which metal ties have been used abroad and the lesults of experience with these 

 ties, with a view to the possibilities of their introduction upon American railways. 



In discussions upon the metal-tie question two extreme arguments are frequently put forward. 

 One of these is to the effect that the use of such ties is merely a fad and an unsuccessful experi- 

 ment, while the other is to the effect that metal ties are essential for a safe and substantial track. 

 The abandonment of some experiments on the Pennsylvania Eailroad a few years ago was made 

 the basis of conclusions, which were widely circulated, to the effect that metal ties as a whole were 

 a complete failure. As a matter of fact the very limited trials on that road and the styles of ties 

 used did not warrant any general conclusions; on the other hand, legislative action to compel the 

 use of metal ties has even been advocated. 



The introduction of good metal ties, however, is a matter of development and not of arbitrary 

 action ; of evolution rather than of revolution. It must be remembered also that while innumer- 

 able forms and modifications of metal ties have been devised only a very limited proportion of 

 these are such as to warrant trial, while the ties which have been most extensively and successfully 

 used comprise but a very few general types. Among the 750 patents taken out in this country 

 and recorded in my reports very few are at all practicable or show any qualifications on the part 

 of the inventor for designing sucli an article as a railway tie. The same remarks apply to the 

 fastenings of the rails to metal ties. 



The necessity for economy in the use of our timber resources is due to the fact that the con- 

 sumption has for a long time been excessive as compared with reproduction, and that ties are 

 largely obtained from young trees, thereby reducing the supplies needful for the future. Taking 

 the low average of 2,500 ties per mile, the 240,000 miles of railway track represent (300,000,000 ties 

 in service. The average life is but seven years, and renewals require at least 85,000,000 ties per 

 annum, while about 7,500,000 are required for new construction. The 16,500 miles of street railway 

 represent about 33,000,000 ties, and require about 4,000,000 per year for renewals and 2,500,000 tor 

 new construction. This gives a total annual consumption of about 100,000,000 ties, equivalent to 

 500,000,000 cubic feet of forest timber. 



A very serious matter is that the proper consumption of timber represents but a part of the 

 total amount of standing timber removed. The constant troubles from reckless and wasteful 

 methods of cutting, the wholesale illegal cutting of timber on Government and private lauds, and 

 the destruction due to forest fires, sheep herding, etc., point to the necessity of protecting the 

 timber resources and economizing in the use of timber. The treatment of these resources in other 

 countries as a source of revenue to the government, by placing them in charge of skilled men 

 under a government department, has been so markedly successful that I have been impelled to 

 strongly support the movement in favor of a similar system of forest regulation and administration 

 by the Government of the United States. 



Apart from the desirability of obtaining a substitute for wooden ties, in the interests of forest 

 preservation, there is another very important point, and one which is really of more direct 

 importance to American railways. This is the reduction in annual renewals of ties, due to the 

 longer life of metal ties, and this again effects a consequent reduction in labor expenses. It also 

 results in a better and more permanent condition of the track, due to the less frequent disturbance 

 of the ballast and roadbed. The general experience is that while the expense of maintenance of 

 track with metal ties is at first equal to, or even greater than, that for track with wooden ties, 



