The Indianapolis journal., 1890-08-15
STEEL RAILROAD TIES.
No More Spreading of Rails-A Serious Drain
on Timber to Be Stopped.

Saratoga Letter IL New York Tribune.
On the oldest railway road-bed in the
United States there has just been laid
section of the standard steel railway ties.
The point indicated is in the vicinity of the
High-street crossing of the Delaware 81
Hudson road. at Ballston Spa. The section
is about three-Quarters of a mile in length.
and the work was completed yesterday.
The work of laying was done by a gang of
Italian laborers in charge of Trackmaster
Dorsey, and the whole under the
personal direction of Civil Engineer
l. S. Mcclellan, of the Standard
Metal Tie and Construction Company. the
New York Office of which is located at No.
Is COrtlandt street. President j. III. Rodg-
ers, General Manager w. III. Spencer, Major
lockwood and others officially connected
with the company. besides several railway
managers. were on the ground during the
laying, and watched with deep interest the
operation of making. the change 1t is
within the memory of elder BallstOnians
and Saratogians that the old-time strap
rail- was looked upon as a railway triumph,
and horses were the motive power. George
Long. who. in the early days of railroading
in this section. was engineer OF the horses,
ductor, baggageman, mail-carrier. ETC.. was
gathered to his ancestors only about ten
years ago.
"a good deal has been said about the So
called deadly car-stove." said Civil Engi-
neer Mcclellan to the Tribune correspond
ent, but, unless in case of collision.
there can be no deadly car-stove with the
metal tie, for with the steel tie there
can be no such thing as track-spreading.
The steel ties are SO bOlted and clamped
tn % Ilo Htxr In
movable structure. Wooden ties must give
way to metal, if for no other reason than
that 1t is almost an impOssi ibility to secure
trst-class wooden ties any longer: the de-
mand exceeds the supply. And, besides,
metal ties will last four or six times as long
as the others. and in the end will be great
saving In the maintenance of way"
"Of what have seen of them. and these
are the first I've ever laid, they are superior
to wood, and Pm highly pleased with them;
and besides they are so easily laid. and
make such perfect roadbed. The two
six from Saratoga, ran over here a few
moments ago. and she ran over the new
section as smooth as a ritie-ball," observed
Trackmaster Dorsey.
The ties weigh about ninety pounds each.
and about 1.500 were used for the section of
three-qnarters of mile. They are placed
about two feet apart and it is intended to
use fifteen to each rail.
General Manager Spencer. in describing
the steel tie said: ''The method adopted
in this tie to destroy the metal contact be-
tween the tie and the rail is to place a
block of oak wood with It's grain running
vertically in the bottom of the channel
shaped tie. which is laid with it's channel
side up. This block is cut the exact size of
the channel of the tie. and the exact width
of the rail base in transverse direction.
its height being three-quarters of an inch
less than the depth of the channel, and di-
rectly under the rail the sides of the metal
tie are cut down about three-quarters of an
inch, SO that when the rail is dropped into
place it rests upon the block of oak; thus O
large non-metallic surface IS provided for
the rail to rest upon. On each side of the
oak block two square holes are cut
in the bottom of the tie. through whiSh
the tugs of the clip This clip with
the bolts passing through the block makes
a secure and reliable fastening. The blocks
are rendered very durable by beng cre-
Osoted and then tested under hydraulic
pressure, and with such foundation for
the rail to rest upon, and with powerful
should be an impOsslbility for the rail to
move in the slightest degree"
On q track parallel with the steel tie Sec
tiOn just laid the Delaware g. Hudson
company has inst substituted new Georgia
pine ties for the old and battered ones in
order to test the comparative difference be-
tween wooden and metal ties. There is a
sharp curve at this point, which will Sc
verely test the merits of the two. The re-
suit will be watched with deep interest by
railroad men.
Accidents from the spreading of rails have
been frequent. and statistics show that
during the last eight and a half years in the
United States alone 3S7 have occurred. dur
901 injured. Many accidents have occurred
where only property was destroyed. The
list is imperfect, but railroad managers as.
sert that it largely understates the loss of
life.
said General Manager Spencer. 1.-The weight
of locomotives rarely exceeded twenty five
tons, and the average speed was twenty
miles an hour. The rails used were in the
neighbOrhOod of forty pounds per yard and
were laid upon oak ties that were nine feet
or over in length, with ten-inch face and
seven inches deep. At the present time To-
cOmOtlves average from forty to sixty tons
The weight of rails has been increased pro-
portiopately to the weight of the locOmo
tiye--tO from seventy to eighty pounds Del
yard on trst-class roads-and the speed has
been increased to an average of over forty
miles per hour, and In many cases to fifty
miles per hour"
How about road-bed improvements"
what improvements have been made tC
road-bed and rail fastenings that have tC
carry the enormously increased weight al
such greatly increased speed have beer
very slight and, might say, substantially
none. The same inadequate wooden and in
sufficient spike still exists; and the ties are
much poorer than they formerly were. Owinl
| to the growing scarcity Of timber. Wooden
ties are now accepted and used that twenty
or even ten years ago would have been con
sidered unfit tor any decent road; and
worse than all, the ties are allowed to re-
main in the track until they are so rotter
that no spike will hold in them"
How about timber?'
"There are now about 425. 600 900 wooden
ties In use, and it requires about 100000. .00(
ties per year to renew the average yearly
wear-Out and equip new tracks. Statistic.
show that what were called few year.
ago the great timber belts of the United
States and Canada are now being denudeG
of their forests at a frightful rate of speed
and to-day necessity cOmpels the substitu
ton of metal for wood"
Where have the steel ties been testeds'
"Twenty-three thousand trains have beer
run over the standard metal ties on th'
Chicago d Western Indiana road since
October last and they have needed no at
tention whatever. Besides giving safe
permanent way, 1t is estimated that the
saving In maintenance of way account viii
be at least 30 per cent"
In referring to a matter pertinent to tht
subject General Manager Spencer said:
IF it Is proper for the government to tes
boilers and prohibit tho use of any that ar,
not adequate for the purpose intended, why
is it not proper and within their province
to have the rails on the railways of the
country subjected to pressure test be
tween the railroads, so that the public
may know If the track is safe before it j.
brought out by horrible accident. There
are thousands of miles Of track in tn,
taA S<ata <h.,< in, ,,.h