| Show TRACK SUPPLIES new form of railroad tie becom mended by the bureau of forestry preservative treatment prevents decay but woods best adapted for treatment will not withstand wear under the rails nor hold common spikes tie plates screw spikes and screw dowels suited to overcome this difficulty tho annual consumption of ties ou miles of railroad brackin this country 1 and it 1 yearly becoming harder to meet this demand granite metal and more recently concrete ties have been experimented with but nowhere permanently adopted and tho indications are that wooden ties arc not soon to bo displaced the bureau of forestry has for some time been making studies and experiments designed to the present conditions and to prevent the exhaustion of the timbers from which les are made bulletin no croas te forms and rail fastenings with special reference I 1 0 treated timbers by dr hermann von which has just been published gives ohp latest results of these investigations the manner in which bics tics havo hitherto been made has been determined largely by the ease and rapidity with which they could bo cut they have been obtained from trees of all diabo tera from cinches upward the most serviceable portions of jive straight trees being selected the sapwood top sections and trees killed by fars insects disease etc or blown down could not ba utilized owing to the fact that ties aiom sapwood or dead timber decay rapidly although large ties make n better roadbed than the same amount of timber in a greater number ot smal ties the first consideration Is to have as great bearing surface as possible on the ballast A trapezoidal or mod gifted half round tie with a base of 10 to 12 inches and a top bearing surface of 6 inches distributes the weight ol 01 moving train loads upon the roadbed as effectually aa a rectangular tie 10 to 12 inches broad the halt round tie Is good for the lumberman in numerous instances two ties of this form can be made from a log which would furnish but one rectangular tie in other cases material for several boards is saved where a rectangular tie would have taken the entire log this form Is beneficial to the forest since it encourages the cutting of large trees aal the saving of email ones until they reach more valuable size and permute the utilization of much timber from the tops hitherto left in the woods the half round tie Is advantageous vant ageous from a mechanical standpoint also because it gives greater bearing surface per mile and a correspondingly ly stable track than rectangular ties this tie form ia therefore advocated by the bureau ot forestry as economical of timber conservative serva tive of the lumber supply and at tho time equally efficient with the fored in common use ties arc coma ionly graded as first second and third class and culls or ties which cither in size or in quality fall below the specifications but which the railroads generally accept up to a certain percentage percent aee of the total number of ales though at a greatly reduced price there Is however accepted standard as to what constitute a first second or third class tie and ahe specifications of the various rail loads show wide differences in the dimensions men required it is proposed by doctor von that standard classification be adopted consisting ot six or more classes to be known aa A etc each class to be of a definite size and no provision to be made tor culls this will tend to economy since the smaller sized ties will fall into the smaller classes and will bo sold at their market value to the roads which want them instead of largely now to roads which do not want them but having received a certain proportion of them mingled with those of the specified size do not feel warranted in rejecting them altogether this proposal has been adopted by the american engineering and maintenance of way association A far greater economy however than can be hoped for from the adoption of a new tie form or a new tie classification Is that promised by the studies which the bureau of forestry has directed towards opening new sources of supply of ties this it alma to do by making possible the utilization of cheaper and more abundant kinds of in place of the high grade woods now employed the commonest as well as the best tie material of the past and present in this country Is white oak which resists both wear and decay excellently and is consequently cheaper in the long run than less expensive woods like beech red oak or loblolly and lodgepole pine but white oak besides being one of our finest timber trees is becoming high priced and further as railroad men know well Is becoming scarce even faster than the advancing price would indicate not only Is it very wasteful to make ties of white oak which can be manufactured into much more valuable products it a lower grade wood will do but soon under the present demand white oak ties will no longer obtainable in the required quantity at any price the first step in the search for substitutes utes was to discover bow to prevent rapid decay of sorter woods when laid in the track preservative treatment has long been in general use abroad with proper methods it can be made entirely successful and impregnation pr with creosote zinc eh lorid or other substances allows the use of many woods hitherto passed over as well of sawed ties eap wood and dead timber preservative treatment can make a beech or red oak or pine tie outlast a white oak tie but away of the softer fibers of these woods under the rail and around the spike ralser a new beet of problems even with cheap featsent feat ment practicable which insures against the destruction of the tie in the ground by decay it Is neither economical nor safe to equip a road with euch ties unless mechanical devices can be found which will prevent krapfl wear ties chemically treated resist decay but the softer woods can not withstand wear of the rails nor bold the spikes under the heavy traffic of american roads this Is true not only of ties upon which the rails rest directly but also where the old forms of steel plates inserted between rail and tie are used indeed the thin plates with prongs or spines and flanges hitherto generally used in the united states appear to hasten rather than retard wear of the tie with accompanying screw spikes which hold the rail firmly to the tie beveral form of plates can be introduced successfully wooden tie plates can be used which when worn out are easily replaced the functions of spikes are elret to hold the liea to the rails and second to prevent tho rails from spreading nail spike are detill used for ana purpose in this country ip driving spike into a white oak tie the strong and fiber ot the wood Is bent downward maintaining close contact that powerful resistance la of acied to its withdrawal when driven into euch woods as hemlock and western yellow lodgepole loblolly or pine the bibera of the wood are and broken ae a result the do not hold with sufficient to withstand the motion ot the rail nor the lateral pressure against them they become loosened looe ened nad the constant friction en larges the spike hole until water collect in it and decay begins th spike must soon be driven in a new place and thie constant rapidly mine the tie even it the tl ha been treated with a solution like zinc eh lorid the water will leach out hip bait eo that decay producing factors begin their work the solution of ti la use of a in the diott woods screw will nearly three llaca as great a strain aa nail spikes if la a screw dowel of hard wood the power of the saiko ie greater A key operated by two mea ka a hand power driving machine or a machine with electric power may bo employed to insert screw spikes arrangements Arrange menta are being made for the introduction of friese ap pl lancea the need ot which has developed conspicuously in abo briet experience peri ence with treated timber it in the maintenance ot a stable track indispensable for the safety of trains moving at a high rate of speed the proposed equipment fulfills the promise of experimental tests an important step in the better utilization of our forest resource will have been made |
