Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-25
RAISING RAILWAY TIES
Undertaking Proposed by the
Pennsylvania Company.
LOOK TO THE FUTURE
IMMENSE DEMAND FOR TIMBER
EVERY YEAR.
Methods Followed in England-Great-
er Wear in This Country Owing to
the Heavier Trains.
BY WILLIAM Z. CURTIS
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald

| PHILADELPHIA, October 49, 1905.
| The stripping of the forests is compelling
| the railway companies of the United States
! TO raise their own ties. European builders
| use iron ties laid upon a bed of ballast as
| solid as macadam pavement; but iron ties
| Will not do In this country, because our
locomotives and cars are heavy. The
average trains in the United States will
weigh three or four times as much as
| those of Europe. and 1t is necessary for the
| health of the car, as well as the track, that
| there should be some elasticity in the road
| bed. Hence it is necessary 10 use wooden
| ties.
Mr.. Joseph T. Richards, chief engineer
maintenance of way of the Pennsylvania
railroad system, who has been making a
careful study of the situation, told me that
the number of crossties in use on the rail-
roads of the United States is about CO.
ooooto, and the number required annually
Tor repairs, requirements and extensions
is about 100000 To meet this demand II Is
necessary to strip 100000 acres of timber
every year.
Each year the base OF supplies is re-
moved farther and farther away" said Mr..
Richards. THE railroads of Pennsylvania
now have to go to Georgia and Alabama for
yellow pine and to Virginia and West Vir-
glnla Tor white oak ties, and the demand is
close these sources of supply.
Demand for Ties.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
east OF Pittsburg and Erie will require
about 3,50OOOO new ties this year, and they
Will cost US an average Of IS cents each
Ihree millions are needed to replace those
that are worn out and 10000 for new
work. If we add 10 per cent as the nat
urai increase the
Will be 3,soO,O00; for 1907 the total will be
4, $4,000; for 1908 1t will be 1858 900: and so
lhey Will go on piling up to enormous
ngures; ! estimate that 1t will require
ABOUT l,oo0OO0 trees to supply the ties we
Will need next year, and that number must
be increased by 10 per cent every wear
so you can easily calculate what an enor-
nous area of timber must be Annually
stripped to supply the Pennsylvania road
alone, and l am considering in this estj-
mate only the lines east of Pitfshure
Other railroads need as many ties as we
In proportion to their mileage. and. consId-
erlng the total mileage of the United states
at Eoo,Ooo miles, you can calculate for YOUR
sen no" large an area of timber land
wiz De required every year to furnish ties
alone, without including the timber needed
for bridges, stations machine shons and
other buildings and construction workX."
How long will tie live?" I asked.
Inc average life Of a railroad tie is ten
years II well taken care Of" answered Mr.
Richards, but it can be shortened nv
carelessness in construction
What proportion does the cost of the
building?'
The ties cost twice as much as the
rails, he replied. Nearly every tie In orr
tracks represents dollar. The original
cost or the wood is Seventy-fye cents de-
livered, and it costs us twenty-fiye cents
in most cases to put tie into a track. In
railway building and maintenance the labor
represents about 90 per cent of the entire
rails per cent, the ballast per cent and
the roadbed "a per cent
To Raise It's Own Ties.
About four years ago the Pennsylvania
officials came to the conclusion that It
would be expedient for them to provide
for the future supply of ties for the road.
without depending upon the ordinary tim
Der market. commission was appointed
to investigate the subject and report We
looked over the property owned by the
company and employed the best authorities
on forestry to advise us as to soil and cli-
mate, and the best wood for ties We
found a large tract of land near Holidays
burg, in the central part of PENNSYLVANIA
which they thought would be available
and they recommended locust and chestnut
as the most durable woods. The tract was
the bed of an old reservoir which had been
used to feed the canal in the early part of
the last century. 1t had been drained out
was entirely dry and the soil was suitable
for timber; but Mr.. Rothrock of the bu-
reau of forestry discovered there an insect
that would have destroyed the locust be-
fore reaching its growth, and we had to
abandon that place. He found other land
where the insect did not appear. near
Huntington Conewago, Pomeroy, Atglen,
Newport. Vintage and other places on the
Juniata and Susquehanna rivers, and with
in the past two years we have planted
about 100000 trees mostly locusts average
ing a hOnt 400 n the in tau <oaf
apart. The trees thus planted are seed
lings two or three years old and have cost
an average of eight cents tree put in
the ground. We are planting about 400 600
more this fall and expect to plant from
3OOO 900 to 500. 600 seedlings every year and
keep on doing 1t until we have covered all
the available territory belonging to the
road.
A Good Investment.
cit is not the intention of the company
to raise all OF the ties necessary for its use
in future repairs and construction; but we
hope by our own example to stimulate an
interest among land owners along the line
so that they will plant trees in the fields
that are not. good for anything else. Lo-
Gust chestnut. white oak and yellow pine
which make the best ties, will grow almost
anywhere in Pennsylvania, and there are
vast areas of unoccupied lands that might
be made fairly profitable In this way. Some
of 1T was formerly covered with timber
and most of 1t is idle. Although 1t takes
a long time for a tree to grow, I do not
know of any better investment for such
otherwise useless property. 1t costs only
about eight cents to plant tree and It
requires little attention. One man can look
after 5000 or 1900 acres and have plenty
of time left to take care of other business
Even II he may not live to enjoy the re-
suits of his labor, any one who plants q
thousand acres to trees will leave some-
thing as good as life insurance to his chill
dren The demand for ties will never cease
Ten years from now we shall want as
many as 100000 ties every year on the
Pennsylvania alone, and 1t will pay the
farmers along our lines to plant every va
cant acre they have with locusts chest
nuts, white oak or yellow pines.
I'VE are trying to reduce the expense os
railway construction and maintenance"
continued Mr.. Richards. land II we can cut
down the cost Of our ties 30 per cent by
cultivating them on our own lands It will
ha q cauaidera BILE Item. The enRiueera of