Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-06-20
TRACK SUPPLIES AND TREATED
TlM5ERs.
FORM OF TIERECOMMENDED
PreservatiVe Treatment Prevents De-
cay, but Woods Will not Withstand
Wear nor Hold Common Spikes
Tie-PIates, Screw-Spikes. and Screw
bowels to Overcome Difficulty.

Of railroad track in this country is
114.OO0.000, and it is yearly becoming
harder to meet this demand. Granite.
metal and, more recently. concrete
ties have been experimental with but
nowhere permanently adopted, and
the indications are that wooden ties
are not soon to be displaced The
bureau of forestry has for some time
been making studies and experiments
designed to improve the present con-
ditions and to prevent the exhaustion
of the tim5ers from which ties are
made Abulletin or Cross-Tie Forms and
Rail Fastenings, with Special Refer
ence to Treated Timbers, by DR.. Her
mann Won Schrenk. which has just been
published. gives the latest results of
these investigations.
The manner in which ties have
hitherto been made has been determin-
ed largely Ly the ease and rapidity
with which they could be cut They
have been obtained from trees of ali
diameters from 8 inches upward. the
most serviceable portions Of live
straight trees being selected. The
sapwood top sections and trees killed
by fire, insects. disease. ETC.. or blown
down, could not be utilized owing to
the fact that ties from sapwood or dead
timber decay rapidly.
Although large ties make a letter
rcadbed than the same amount of tim
how l., d, ryro,to~ ,,r,-,No, cF e~,ou +in-
the first consideration is to have as
great bearing surface as possible on
the ballast A trapezoidal or modified
half-round tie, is advantageous from a
mechanical standpoint also, because it
gives greater bearing surface per mile
and a correspondingly more stable
track than rectangular ties. This
tie form is therefore advocated by the
Bureau of Forestry as economical Of
timber, conservative of the lumber sup
ply. and at the same time equally eff
ficient with the forms in common use
Ties are commonly graded as first.
second. and third class. and culls, or
ties. which either in size or in quality
fall below the specifications, but which
the railroads generally accept up to
certain percentage of the total number
Ct ties. though at a greatly reduced
FriCe. There is. however. no accepted
standard as to what constitutes a first,
second. or third-class tie. and the
specifications of the various railroads
show wide differences in the dimen-
sions required. 1t is proposed by Doc
tor Won Schrenk that a standard class
ification be ADOPTED, consisting of six
or more classes to be known as A, b,
c.. etc. each class to be of a definite
size. and no provision to be made for
culls. This will tend to economy.
since the smaller sized ties will fall
into the smaller classes and will be
sold at their market value to the roads
which want them, instead of, as largely
now. to roads which do not want them
but. having received a certain proper
ton of them mingled with these of the
specified size, do not feel warranted IN
rejecting them altogether. This pro-
posal has been adopted by the Ameri-
can Engineering and Maintenance of
Way association.
A far greater economy. however.
than can be hoped fer from the adop-
ton of a new tie form CT a new tie
is that promised by the
studies which the Bureau OF Forestry
has directed towards opening new
sources of supply of ties. This it aims
&c do by making possible the utiliZa-
ton of cheaper and more abundant
kinds of timbers in place of the high
grade woods now employed. The com
monest as we'll as the best tie material
of the past ald present in this country
is white oak. which resists beth wear
and decay excellently. and is cOnse-
quently cheaper in the long run than
less expensive woods like beech, red
oak. or loblolly and lodgepole pine.
But white oak. besides being one of
cur finest timber trees. is becoming
high-priced. and further. as railroad
men know well. is becoming scarce
even faster than the advancing price
would indicate Not only is it very
" dStCluA W AAAaNG AAGS III Willie Odk.
which can be manufactured
into much more valuable products if a
lower grade wood viii do. but soon.
under the present demand. white oak
:ies will no longer be obtainable in the
required quantity at any price.
The first step in the search for sub
Stitutes was to discover how to prevent
rapid track. Preservative treatment
has long been in general use abroad
With proper methods il can be made
entirely successful. and impregnation
with creO=Ote. zinc ChlCrid or other
antiseptic substances allows the use of
many woods hitherto PASSED over. as
well as Ct sawed tie. sapwood. and dead
timber. Preventative treatment can
make a beech or red oak or pine tie
outiast a white oak tie. But the
we'ring away of the softer fbers OF
these woods under the rail and around
the spike raises a new set of problems.