The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1909-03-05
RAILROADS ScOUR COUNTRY
FOR ADEQUATE TIE SUPPLY


development of the country is a great
truth that is little understood by peo-
pie outside OF railroad circles. The
putting engine that speeds at a rate
of mile or more a minute over the
country is a slave to the two steel
rails that insure a smooth and safe
road, and these rails in turn depend
on the old-fashioned wooden cross
tie which holds them in place.
Yankee invention has not yet found
substitute which has induced the
railroads to give up wood, although
experts say that the day will surely
come when the country's forests will
no longer be called upon to supply
the demand for ties. Up to the pres
ent time it seems that no other ma
terial has been found which has the
resiliency of wood and which at the
same time causes less wear and tear
on the rails. fastenings, and roadbed.
The country's railroads during the
last two or three years use 100000
900 to 15O,000,0O0 of sawed and hewn
ties a year. The ideal tie timber is
white oak, which combines the quail
tiles of durability, hardness, strength
and close grain. 1t is not only excel
lent for ties, but is widely used in
ship building, for general construc-
ton, in cooperage, in the manufac-
ture of carriages, for agricultural i'm
plements, interior finish of houses,
and for furniture. On account of this
wide use, the supply has been greatly
have been forced to pay almost pro-
hibitive prices for ties, or to substi-
Ntute other and cheaper woods to re-
place the white oak ties rapidly dis
appearing from their lines.
Over 40 per cent. of the ties recent
ly purchased by the railroads of this
country are oak, according to latest
statistics of United States forest SER
vice. CrOssties of southern pine
formed somewhat less than % per
cent. Douglass fir ties ranked third,
with approximately 10 per cent. of
the total. Naturally the proportion
of these two timbers will increase as
The supply of oak dwindles. That is
also true of cedar, chestnut, cypress,
western pine, tamarack, hemlock, and
other trees which are coming into the
market as tie timbers.
Cedar, which is very durable, has
been extensively used to take the
place of white oak for ties, but it is so
soft that it is readily cut by the rails
This necessitates the use of tie plates
and other protective devices when ce-
dar ties are used. AS the supply of
cedar is also running short, it is ne
ceSsary for the railroads to seek
further for new tie timber. One of
the woods which has all the requis-
ties for a good tie, with the excep-
ton of durability, is the beech
The beech tie generally consists
largely of sapwood, which partly ac-
counts for its lack of durability, but,
on the other hand, allows a thorough
and easy preservative treatment. In
Germany and France, beech ties have
been successfully preserved from de-
cay, and are used very extensively.
Beech is found widely distributed
throughout the eastern part of the
United States, and at the present time
is comparatively cheap and abundant.
If, therefore, the railroads whose
lines are located in the regions where
beech is abundant can make use of
this wood, treated with some suitable
preservative, another source of supply
of tie timber will be opened up.
Stumpage values have been increas-
ing so rapidly during the last few
years that many railroads have found
it necessary to modify their timber |
policy, and they yearly apply pre-
servatives to a greater number of ties |
and to more kinds of woods. Substi- |
tute woods naturally vary with differ
ent sections of the country, but in |
most cases they lack the essential |
qualities found in white oak, namely.
resistance to mechanical wear and to
decay. Experience teaches that wear
can be successfully retarded by the
use of the plates and other mechani-
cal devices, and decay can be post
poned by the application of proper
The new conditions
have made it necessary for many
railroad companies to meet the Prob
lem of preservation by establishing
treating plants at central points Of
distribution along their lines.