The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-11-10
RAILROAD TIES.
What They are Made Of and How
Long They Last.


From Cairo up the Illinois Central as far
as Sigel the passenger notices ON each side
of the road almost at every station, and in
deed between stations, huge piles of rail
road ties, etc. Not only is this the case
along the Illinois Central, but along other
roads the same thing can be seen.
1--WE have our fruit season, nut season
md various other seasons, but this is the
railroad tie season." said Roadmaster Dom
oghue, of the Illinois Central. "The sea-
son commences about October 1 and ends
in April and May. From this you are to
understand that during this period our busy
time lastsn
How long does tie live? n
The average life of tie of course de-
ponds as much upon what it is made of as
the life of man is generally guaged by his
habits-it Is all in the stuff that is in It.
The best ties are made of burr and white
oak-that is, of the material most available
ties made from that sort of timber are the
best. Honey locust outlast anything We
put down, but we can get but little of that.
Along with the burr and white oaks we
will place post oak, and place the average
life of a tie of that material at seven years.
might say too" continued the road
master, " that the life of tie depends much
on the ballast in which the timber is imbed-
ded. have had. ties remain solid for fif-
teen years in cinder and rock ballast. They
last long time also in gravel-as long as
ten years. In ordinary earth ballast
they become worthless after seven years Of
SERVICE"
hewed and sawed ties2"
Well, there is in the life of ties at the
very least three years difference, and that
in favor of those that are hewed, ana
will give you good reason for this fact -
Sawed ties are made of timber that cannot
be hewed and that has been shook tim
Der that is blown down by storms The
saw leaves the creases around a knot so ex-
posed that the water gets in there and 30
remains. The creases of the saw also make
little cutters, as it were, which hold the
water and which of course causes the tie To
rot. In all my experience-and that cover
=, long term in the various branches of road
naking-I never knew sawed tie to lie as
.ong as the one which is hewed. We buy
ties of two classes, firsts and seconds, and
are now paying from SO to A cents for the
former and II cents for the second. For
sawed ties we pay by the thousand feet
ga per 1000. Switch ties are always saw
ed. A set of switch ties contains 1850
feet, and costs US $32. All ties are closely
inspected. About twice month do this
work. The ties are hauled to the track and
ranked (piled up), and take squad OF
section men by whom the ties are all re-
handled, and as each one Is turned over IL Is
given Its class and marked ON the end--two
dots for second class, one dot for first.
Ties made of red or water oak we throw
out entirely, accepting them at no price.
Ties are paid for as often as twice month
the money being paid through the station
agents Of the company, who are furnished
funds for thnt purpose. So far this season
we have shipped about $4,000 ties. Just
now they are being sent North TO build the
double track between Kankakee and Chi.
cago and also to Freeport for use In build.
ing the new road from Freesport to Madi.
son, Wis"
"How many ties does it take for ona
milo of road ?"
"Twenty-six hundred. We watch the
road closely, and as the old ones become
al al IL In n