Ogden Evening Standard | 1911-08-12 | Page 4 | Pickling Ties in the Lake

H PIOKLING TIES IN THE LAKE. Hj The Southern Pacific railroad company has had 10,000 ties H "pickled" in the Great Salt Lake, along tho line of tho Ogden-Lmcin H cutoff. The ties have been in the salt water three years and now M are being loaded on cars for shipment to the Ilazen cutoff to be H given an actual service test in alkali soil. B' ' Piling is also being preserved in tho salt water us excellent re- H ' suits have been obtained by tho piling in tho great trestle across tho Hk lake, which, since the day it was placed, has shown no deterioration. Hj There are ties in tho old Promontory line of 4ho Central Pa- H cific, which were placed thero 40 years ago and have not decayed, Hf proving the preservative qualities of the salt formation in which they Hl were encased. H The preserving of ties and piling in Great Salt Lake may be- H come an important industry, if tho experiments now being worked H out are successful as the tosts already made indicate that they H will be. H There is one drawback to the use of these mineralized ties on H the -main line of the Southern Pacific The ties are so heavily inr H pregnated with salt that they act as u "ground" to the electric cur- B ' rent in the block signal service. "Where the block signal is not em- H ployed, the tics can be used. H The saturated solution of salt water of tho lake is a good con- M' ductor of electric currents, so much that where the water strikes 1 I the rails on the "fills" to the Ogdcn-Lucin cut-off, tho block signal H Is made inoperative.