New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-31
STEEL RAILROAD TIES.
LAID ON THE OLDEST ROADBED IN THE
UNITED STATES.
NO MORE SPREADING OF RAILs-A SERIOUS
DRAIN ON TIMBER RESOURCES TO

No MORE SPREADING OF RAILs-A SERIOUS
DRAIN ON TIMBER RESOURCES TO
BE STOPPED.
Saratoga Springs y. Y, July 90 CspeciaD-on the
oldest railway roadbed in the United states there
has fust been laid n section OF the sahdaIu
s,c railway ties The point lndlcacd Is III INC
o., nifty Of the Highst crossing OF the Delaware ana
- ,.son road at Ballston spa. The section - aoou'
irce.quarcrs OF a mile in length, ana the VOTE was
completed Yesterday. The work OF laying was uono
BY gang Of Italian laborers In charge OIL Track
master Dorsey and the whole under the personal
direction 81 Civil Engineer 7. ). Mcclellan OF the
STANDARD Metal Tie and Construction Company, inc
New York Office Of which Is located at NO 10 CortahuN
st. President J. II. Rodgers. General Manager W. IL.
SPENCER Major lockwood and Others Officially conhec'ed
with tho company, besides several railway man
ayers were on the ground during the laying.
and watched with deep interest the operation OF
making the change. II is within the memory OF
elder Bsllstonans and SaratOgians that the old time
straprail was looked upon as railway triumph anu
horses were the motive power. George Long, WHO
In tho early days Of railroadng IN TINS secuoh was
engineer Of the horses and also hllcd ihe oOmoheu
place OF conductor. baggageman. mailoarlcr' ETC.
was gathered to his ancestors only about ten years
"A good deal has been said about the so-caled
deadly car stoven said Civil Engineer Mcclellan %
The Tribune correspondent, but. unless IN case OF
collision, there can be deadly car stove with the
metal tie for with the steel Tie there can he no such
thing "a track spreading The steel ties are so bolted
and camped 10 the rails that the whole becomes
one immovabe structure. Wooden ties must give
way TO metal, If for other than that II Is
almost an impossibilIty TO secure 1rstcass wooden
ties any longer; the demand exceeds the supply.
And besides, metal ties will last four or six times as
long as the others, and in the end will be a great
saving in the maintenance Of way
"Of what | have seen Of them. and these are the
first I've laid they superior TO wood and Pm
highly pleased with them; and besides they are 80
easily laid and make such a perfect roadbed. The
twosix from Saratoga ran over here few moments
ago. and she ran the new section as smooth as
a rife ball." observed Trackmaster Dorsey.
The ties weigh about ninety pounds each. and
abon. 800 were used for the section OF lhroe-
quarters Of a mile. They placed about two feet
apart and II Is intended 10 use fifteen To each rau
General Manager spencer, in describing the steel
tie said: THE method adopted In this tie TO destroy
tho metal contact between the tie and tho rail- Is "
place a block Of oak wood with its grain running
vertically in the bottom Of the channeEshaped ue'
which IS laid with It's channel side up ms oiocH i
cut the exact size of the channel OF the tie ana to
exact width Of the rail base in transverse drecuoh'
IFS height being three-quarters Of an mon less tnal
the depth Of the channel and directly under 'ne ran
tbe side, Of the metal tie cut down about three
ouorters Of an inch that when the rail is droPPc
into place IL rests upon the block OF OAK hus ia'sc
non metallic surface is provided Tor the ran !" reS'
pnon on each side o. the oak block TWO Sq"''o
hole, are cut In the bottom OF the TIC 'rous" wiz"
,bc ,urs Of the clip hook. This clip with the oous
.st,, ,hrough the block makes secure and rohaoie
,,c,tig The blocks are rendered very durable Dy
hcpg ,reoeoied and then tested under hNdI"uo P'oe
sure and with such foundation Tor inc rdil - to'
mon. and with powerful clips to mFce '"c ra" W."
upon IL, 1t should be an lmPos''o'4i'' i'' Wv
move IN tho slightest degree 10. ,,,
I'm A track parallel with the steel tie sccuoh !us'
laid the Delaware and Hudson Company has 'us' sUo'
,,,r,, new, Georgia pine ties for the old ana oaV'
,cred ones. in order test the comparative ui"e'e"
tetvecn wooden and metal ties. IheFe = 49,
curve at this point. which VIII se'e'cN Ws' Ii
merits of the two. The result VIII W ""
deep interest by railroad MON -, 49,. heen
,r.orent and statistics show that d"'@ns inc ii'
eight and a half years in the lu'c" ''o.es - oa
A. bove occurred during which III persons h"'o ~
Killed aud UOl injured. Many aoSluoNu T. -,
80, y,h,re only property was Destroyer i"o I,'
is imperfect but railroad mdnoe'''
uuder,taes the loss Of NE ,, at, Can
When railroads we're first estaoIs"e'' , sou 800
-, .,epccr the weight Of locomotives ,nnS
Sr'i ,iJ twenty I'VE tons and the atoas a. IN the
~ tA.eyVu ,Is. an hour The rails used weFc III , o
rt,hhornood Of forty pounds per al" 80 in length
,,, oak lie, that we're nine tecl y. a., AZ the
upon oHh "',.h f,cc and seven inches dcep, ~ ~
with a t'u NV motive, average from forty 10 sIAy
pnS The weight Of rails mas pen ycnmoTive-to from
portionatcy TO the wGsnt u , on first class roads
,cuty to eighty pounds per yau ga xer, 20 of over
~ ,d has been increased 10 an aNeI"e rntss
e s m, les per hour and IN many cases 10 may ~
per noO about roadbcd improvements . .o.dhed
W., announcements have been mace 70 rO "r,ylr
and rail fastcuings, that nave 70 raily Sr.d have
Increased weight at such sIcas ialy none
- very Sight and might say 90. III. .,ill
gV'" ,,d.ouair wooden and inSumtlehV SPhe ~
EXISTS and the lies ar much poorer 'A ,Gr Wooden
~crr owing Ia the erows sVaIS'H AS twenty or even
uc' wv a,, would have been consideTtu uhI.. ~.
p.'. N.rt rn,d md worse than all the uee -
lowed To- remain IN me t1~ XIV. uIS'' "'''
mat mo- spike viii hou III u'o'"'
i"M "o or. now about 425 100000 wooden tis, ~
,se and II requires about lOOooOoOo " ~ ~uin new
~, s,.t,.tirs show that what were c"L' 90
SaS yc,r, ago the great timber peits 1 forests AT
states and Canada being denndtd Oh ui rnmpc
4 frishtfhl rate of speed, ana to-uas "''''
the substitution Of metal for wooi ~
Wv. Whore have the steel ties been te>t'u ~ mi, over
twenty three thousand train, nave oevn a Western
!,,,a nd since October last, ana th'l INV ,,,
t,",t'n whatever. BESIDES giving shlo, i.ir
m.,t way IL Is estimated that the SaNl,ls ,,ri
,.r.ucc at nav account VIII be Al "'. IN snbisct
I ,,rrr,uy 10 "A matter pertinent 20 INC s"0''
General Manager spencer shn ,,, % test boilers
~ IL - proper for the GoNerniheut " s,,,a,, sor
, nrrhhlt the use OF any that are hot t ,'rhtn
~" ,tnrnose Intended why l. 1t not prpvI az - The
e province to the rails on INC @ hc rail
countv subjected 10 pressure W', ,h. tr,, il safo
h,ads 40 that the public may know Il u Wv rhrr,
H " ,s br6n ght ont by a horrible acchcu',, ,a,e
w. thousands II mile, of track IN ur % It,bic 10
,hot arc in such condition that the ra.s 81 nagy,s
wl,thont some accident from this cause oeiHe
ARMY AND NAVY TNBbLi|EN'H'