The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-02-24
The Crosst1e Problem.

Washington, Feb. 21.-That the
humble railroad tie is the most i'm
portant factor in the material devel-
opment Of the country is Il great truth
that is little understood by people
outside of railroad circles. The puff
ing engine that speeds at the rate of
a mile or more u 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 used ll0, ,OOO,-
900 to 100000 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
llent for ties, but is widely used in
ship building, for general construc-
tion, In cooperage, in the manntac-
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 re-
duced and some of the railroads have
been forced to pay almost prohibitive
prices for ties, or to substitute other
and cheaper woods to replace the
white oak ties rapidly disappearing
from their lines.
i Over 40 per cent of the ties purch-
ased 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 25 per cent. Doug
las fir ties ranked third, with approx
imatelv 10 per cent Of the total. Nat
urally the proportion of these two
timbers will increase as the supply OF
oak dwindles. This is also true of
cedar, chestnut, cypress, Western
pine, tamarack, hemlock and other
trees which are coming into the mar
ket 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 cedar ties are used. AS the sup
ply of cedar is also running short, 1T
is necessary for the railroads to seek
further for new tie timber. One Of the
woods which has all the requisites OF
a. good tie, with the exception OF du
! rability, is the beech.
A beach tie generally consists large.
Iy of sapwood, which partly accounts
for it's lack of durability, but, on the
) other hand, allows a thorough and
easy preservation treatment. In Ger
many 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 StatesS and at the present
time is comparatively cheap anc
7 abundant. If, therefore, the railroads
+ whose lines are located in the region!
, where beach is abundant can make
use of this wood, treated with some
suitable preservative, another source
of supply of tie timber will be open
: ed mp.
+ Stumpage values have been in
creasing so rapidly during the las
few years that many railroads have
t found it necessary to modify thei
| timber policy, and they yearly apply
preservatives to a greater number O
ties and to more kinds of wood. Sub
i stitute woods naturally vary witt
different sections of the country, bu'
t in most cases they lack the two essen
tial qualities found in white oak
namely, resistance to mechanical
l wear and to decay. Experience prov
es that wear can be successfully re
/ tarded by the use OF tie plates ane
other mechanical devices, and decay
can be postponed by the application
5 of, proper preservatives. The new
conditions have made it necessary 70.
; many railroad companies to meet tn
problem of preservation by establish
: ing treating plants at central point
y OF distribution along their lines.