Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1909-03-03
Railroads SCour Country For Ade.
GudtG Tie SuDDIu.

Velopment OF the country is a
great truth that is little understood
10y people outside of railroad cir
cles. The putting engine that
speeds at the rate of mile or
more minute over the country is
slave to the two steel rails that
insure 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 vet
found substitute which has Undue
ed the railroads to give up wood,
although experts say that the day
will surely come when the country's
forests will no longer he called
upon 10 supply the demand for
ties. Up to the present. time it
seems that no other material has
been ioupd which has the resilien-
cy of wood and which at the same
time causes less wear and tear on
the rails, fasteuings and roadbed.
The country's railroads during
the last two or three years use
ITO, 600, 900 to $50, 900, 900 of
sawed and hewn ties a year. The
ideal tie timber is white oak,
which combines the qualities 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 manu-
facture of carriages, for agricul-
tural implements, interior finish of
houses, and for furniture. On ac-
count of this wide use, the supply
has been greatly reduced and some
of the railroads have been forced TO
pay almost prohibitive prices for
ties, or to substitute other and
cheaper woods 10 replace the hite
oak ties rapidly disappearing from
their lines.
Over 40 per cent of the ties re-
Gently purchased by the railroads
OF the country are oak, according
To latest statistics of United States
Forest Service. Cross ties of
southern pine formed somewhat
less than % per cent. Douglas
fir ties ranked third, with approx
mately 10 per cent of the total.
Naturally the proportion of these
two timbers will increase az the
supply of oak dwindles. This is
also true of cedar, chestnut, cy-
press, western pine, tamarack,
hemlock, and other trees which are
coming into the market as tie tim
bers.
Cedar, which is very durable,
has been extensively used to take
the place of white oak for ties,
but 1t is so soft that it is readily
cut by the rails. This necessi-
tates the use Of tie plates and other
protective devices when cedar ties
are used. As the supply of
cedar is also running short, II is
necessary for the railroads to seek
further for new tie timber. One of
the woods which has all the re.
quisites of good tie, with the ex-
ception of durability, is the beech.
A beech tie generally consists
largely of sapwood, which partly
accounts 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 decay, and are
used very extensively. Beech is
found widely distributed through
out 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 tie timber will be
opened up.
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