Seward daily gateway., 1932-11-16
TIE PURCHASING FOR
 ALASKA RAILROAD IS
 < MAJ0R PROBLEM
OFFICIALS PREFER TIES FROM STATES REGARDLESS IN
 ERROR QUALITY

app -OAAAA1oCO1y 1oO illClA CdI1 DC employed along the Alaska Rail road from Anchorage to Seward in the making of ties for the railroad These men formerly were occupied in this industry until the spring of 1882, when for some reason or oth- CT the railroad officials decided that they would not accept any more local ties, and cut all the camps off immediately, thus caus- ing the operators to lose all their investment and tie roads which they accumulated, and at the same time throwing them all out of em- ploynent
 Superior and Cheaper
 The officials of the railroad claim that the Douglas fir creosot- ed ties of Washington were supe- rior and could be purchased cheap CT, and to this end they submitted bids for approximately 150,000 ties to the various operators, in the vii cinity of Seattle and Tacoma. A Canadian outfit made the lowest bid which came to about $1.30 per tie laid down in Seward. The West Coast Lumber Manufacturers protested this bid on the grounds that the bid was not submitted within the time limits and for vari- ous reasons a furore was raised which prevented the Alaska Rail road from accepting this bid i'm mediately, and investigation has shown that the Alaska Railroad of ficialS only wanted to get the prices on these ties rather than purchase them, so they say. However, it was supposed that after such a state ment these ties would not be pur- chased, but there has been no statement to the effect that any ties would be accepted along the railroad as formerly-up to Novem- Der except such ties as were cut last year and the railroad agreed to take before they cut local ties out.
 Claim Disputed
 It is claimed by the railroad off cials that fir ties will last longer than the local ties, but this is viz orously disputed.
 Investigation has proven that the Alaska mountain hemlock ties will last from 12 to 14 years, the west ern hemlOck of Southeastern Alas ka about 10 years, the Douglas fir, which will not hold a spike, is brit tie, and subject to weather check, will not last more than from to 10 years, and numerous fir ties have been replaced tha thave been in the road only six years.
 The railroad is prejudiced against as the southeastern hemlock tie, spruce tie which will last as long because they used numerous spruce ties that were formerly cut north of Anchorage. This species of spruce is called white spruce" It is soft. corky, and subject to rot, and will not last over four to six years.
 Lasting Qualities
 Sitka spruce, which grows all along the Alaska Railroad south of Indian creek to Seward, is a much different species and has great deal more lasting qualities than the white spruce, will hold a spike bet ter than the fir, and equal or better than the Western henlock, but not as good as mountain hemlOck. It is very resilient and will not break easily, will withstand the weather better than fir, and many ties Of this species are in the track now that have been in for 15 years. The average life of the Sitka spruce tie is about 10 to II years.
 The fir tie that is treated is not a number one heart tie" The West Coast Lumber Manufacturers Association grading rules accept ties for creosoting that will not pass otherwise, which include large knots under railplate, and sap wood which would be called defect in untreated ties, thus the creosote only balances the defect in a tie to make it last or equal a No. heart /, tie.