The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-09
Union Pacific Storing New
Material in Topeka
For Track from Kansas City to
MarysVille.
100 CARS UNLOADED.
Ten Acres Required for Extra
Side Tracks.
Texas Forests Will Supply 3
Half Million Ties.

Evidence of the fact that the Union
Pacific railroad intends to carry out the
construction work which has been an.
nounced would be done in this vicinity,
is not lacking in North Topeka
Just east of the junction depot half a
dozen side tracks have been built across
ten acre lot from the Union Pacific
main line, and already 100 car loads OF
railway ties have been unloaded.
I'VE need more men to go to work
over on the North side" said A. f.
Kiss, foreman of the material yard this
morning. Three of the side tracks built
into the material yard will be u~ed to
unload ties. Two tracks will be used to
unload steel rails and one track will be
used to unload bridge material. The
structural steel and the steel rails have
been ordered and the first shipments
are said to be en- route and will arrive
any day. The ties are shipped here
from Houston, Texas. For the 155 miles
of track which the Union Pacific will
build between Topeka and Marysville
and Topeka and Kansas City, together
with the side tracks, nearly half a mill
lion ties will be used. OF this number,
10000 have already been unloaded in
North Topeka. A car load will average
about 300 ties and 100 cars have been
received here. The ties are unloaded
along the side track and are piled aa
high as the box cars in which they
came
The ties which the Union Pacific Rail-
road company will use In the construc-
tfon work In this vicinity have all been
treated" with a solution which is said
to lengthen their life 100 per cent The
ties come from the pine groves of Tex
as. They are the heaviest ever used in
Topeka, and they are said to be tough
er and that they will hold the spikes
better than any other used. Iney are
bought in Texas off the lines of the
Union Pacific, so that that road has to
pay freight tariffs to the Rock Island
for hauling them into Kansas from
Texas.
The approximate cost of each tie is
81. That amount OF course includes the
original cost of the tie, the cost of
treating" them with a preservatfve,
the cost of freight charges in hauling
them from Texas to Kansas and the
cost Of unloading them in the store
yards in North Topeka and again re-
loading them and placing them on the
right of way. Half a million will be
used in the proposed railway construc-
tion, and at the total cost of one dollar
each this part of the construction VIII
cost the Union Pacific half million
dollars; z, ,992 ties are laid in each mile
of the road. The proposed construction
will require $1,000 steel rails.
The process of treating the ties TO
preserve them is interesting. A certain
number of ties are placed in a huge
steel cylinder. The air is pumped out
and steam is injected into the cylinder
The ties are steamed for several hours,
after which the steam is taken on and
a solution is run in which is readily
and quickly absorbed by the wood af-
ter being steamed. Each tie requires
about seven hours to undergo the
treatment After going through this pro-
cess it is said the life of tie is doubled
During recent years experiments OF
many kinds have been carried on by
the various railroads to ascertain the
best method of treating railway ties.
and practically all that are laid now
adays have undergone treatment. The
Union Pacific has a plant of its own
for the treatment at Larimie. Wyom-
ing