Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1909-09-03
CROSS TIES A PROBLEM.
MILLIONS PURCHASED EVERY YEAR
BY RAILROADS OF COUNTRY.

MILLIONS PURCHASED EVERY YEAR
BY RAILROADS OF COUNTRY.
During the year 1908 the steam and
electric railroads of the United States
purchased more than 112,000,000 cross,
ties, costing, at the point of purchase,
over S56, ,000 900, an average of so cents
per tie, according to statistics just made
public by the Bureau of Census in CO.
operation with the United States For
est Service. This was some 10000, 900
ties less than the quantity purchased
in 1907, when the total was approx
mately 153, 700,0 900, the highest ever re-
corded. The decreased purchases in
1908 were, of coure, chiefly due to the
business depression, which affected ev-
cry line of industry. This forced most
of the roads to purchase only the ties
which were absolutely essential for re-
newals, and heavily cut down the pur-
chase for new track. In 1908 only T.
431 900 cross ties were reported as pur-
chased for new track, as against %, 557,-
600 in 1907 OF the total number of
ties purchased for all purposes, the
steam roads took approximately "a per
cent, leaving about per cent. for the
electric roads.
1t is very interesting to note the wide
range of woods used for cfess ties. The
preliminary report by the Census Bu-
reau lists separately fifteen classes of
species. OF these the oaks are now,
and have always been, by far the most
important. The oak ties amounted to
more than As, 1000, 900, or 43 per cent. of
the total quantity purchased. Next to
these ranked the Southern yellow pines,
with 100000, or 10 per cent. of the
total. 1t will be seen that the oaks
and Southern pines combined furnish
ed nearly three-fourths of all the ties
bought by the railroad companies last
year. Cedar and chestnut supplied
more than 5000, 900 ties each, and Dou-
glas fir nearly as much. About 4,000,-
900 tamarack ties were purchased, near
ly $500, 600 cypress ties, and, in round
numbers, 100000 each of Western
pine and hemlocl1. Redwood, white
pine, lodgepole pine, gum, beech,
spruce and several other woods were
used in smaller quantities.
While the oaks, and particularly the
white oaks, have always been the pre-
ferred woods for cross ties and still form
a large proportion of the total, the in
creasing prices which the roads have
had to pay for satisfactory oak ties are
forcing them to look more and more for
substitutes. This accounts in part for
the great variety of woods reported.
White oak, untreated, makes tie
which gives excellent service for many
years, but ii has been found possible to
take woods which naturally are not
durable, give them a treatment with
either creosote or zinc chloride, which
will prevent decay, and thus get much
longer service from them than can be
secured from untreated oak ties.
Among the woods which have been
most largely treated so far are the yell
low pines, particularly lobololly pine
Douglas fir, Western pine and lodge
pole pine.
This years statistics adds to the list
two kinds Of cross ties which previous
ly had not been reported in sufficient
quantity to justify listing them sepa-
rately. These are gum and beech. The
purchase of gum ties in 1908 exceeded
100000, while but slightly more than
Is, 600 of them were reported in the pre-
vious year. Of beech ties, the purchases
in 1908 amounted to nearly $1,000
against but little more than $1,000 in
1907. These are woods which are dis
tinctly not suitable for cross ties unless
they are given preservative treatment.
Their increased use, therefore, is one
of the many results of the progress of
wood preservation in the United States.
For many years beech has been one of
the principal cross tie woods in Europe,
where its value when given chemscal
treatment was long ago recognized. 1t
is not uncommon for European roads
to secure from twenty to thirty years
service from beech cross ties. Untreat-
ed they would not last long enough to
warrant their use at all.