LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 
197 
The freight rate from Chicago to Pacific coast terminal points is 
$11 per ton. In estimating the cost of the rails to be used in a given 
case, one should add the cost of transporting the rails from the 
terminal point to the camp. 
In 1914, first-class relaying rails at Pacific coast terminal points 
were worth about as follows: 
45 pounds per yard and down, $35 per ton. 
50 pounds per yard and up, $36 per ton. 
Second-class inspected relaying rails were worth about as fol- 
lows : 
45 pounds per yard and down, $29 per ton. 
50 pounds per yard and up, $30 per ton. 
It is customary to figure the life of steel rails at 20 years. This is, 
no doubt, about right for the rails used in main-line logging roads. 
Possibly it is too high for rails used on spurs, where the grades and 
curvature are heavy, the roadbed is relatively poorer, and the steel 
is taken up and relaid often. A life of 15 years, with a scrap value 
of 20 per cent of the initial cost, is thought to be a better basis for 
estimating the depreciation on rails so used. 
Angle bars. — Either angle bars or fishplates are used to strengthen 
and brace the rails at the joint. The usual method is by means of 
angle bars. They are bolted on each side of the joint with two bolts 
in each rail head. 
The weights of angle bars for four typical weights of rails are as 
follows : 
Size of rail. 
Weight of 
angle bars 
per pair. 
Weight of 
angle bars 
per mile. i 
45-pound rail. 
50-pound rail. 
56-pound rail. 
60-pound rail. 
Pounds. 
21.5 
23.4 
28.0 
31.4 
Pounds. 
7,675 
8,354 
10, 396 
11,210 
Standard requirements call for 352 joints per mile. 
The cost of angle bars f. o. b. Pacific coast terminal points in 1916 
was approximately $2.05 per hundredweight. The cost of angle bars 
per mile for four typical rails is as follows : 
Size of rail. 
Cost of 
angle bars 
per mile of 
track. 1 
45-pound rail . 
50-pound rail . 
56-pound rail . 
60-pound rail . 
$158. 00 
172. 00 
213.00 
230.00 
Amounts do not include the cost of transportation from Pacific coast terminal points to the right of way. 
