Metal in railroad ties
Larry Sheldon
> I have a quick question and figure that readers of this list ought to
> know this. I just bought some railroad ties (for landscaping) and want
> to bolt them together (I have a neighbor who thinks my property is his,
> but that's a long story I won't get into). Anyway, I note that they
> have some sort of S-shaped piece of metal in the ends of the ties, and I
> was wondering how deep this metal actually extends into the wood (since
> I'd prefer not to try to drill through it!).
The ones I have seen are about an inch (maybe a little more, maybe a little
less) deep. I don't actually know what they are for, but it appears to
me that they are intended either to keep the tie from splitting, or
to repair one that has already started to split.
> Please reply via e-mail as I am not a regular reader of this list.
Well, foo! You ought to join-up--learn all kinds of neat stuff.
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Drew McGhee
> I have a quick question and figure that readers of this list ought to
>know this. I just bought some railroad ties (for landscaping) and want
>to bolt them together (I have a neighbor who thinks my property is his,
>but that's a long story I won't get into). Anyway, I note that they
>have some sort of S-shaped piece of metal in the ends of the ties, and I
>was wondering how deep this metal actually extends into the wood (since
>I'd prefer not to try to drill through it!).
>
>
>
Jack,
These 's' shaped pieces of metal were put into the ties prior to the
treating process. Tie treating plants evaluate the ties prior to processing
to determine whether they will split at the end during the process. Today,
they use flat plate 'nailers' similar to that used in prebuilt trusses in
home construction. The 's' shaped pieces should be no deeper than about an
inch. You will need to look out for date nails if you are planning to cut
through them and other pieces of metal that may have worked into them
throughout their years of use. Just be careful of the date nails. These are
collectable items so they may have already been removed.
Drew R. McGhee
Altoona, PA
Dennis Hanley
>know this. I just bought some railroad ties (for landscaping) and want
>to bolt them together (I have a neighbor who thinks my property is his,
>but that's a long story I won't get into). Anyway, I note that they
>have some sort of S-shaped piece of metal in the ends of the ties, and I
>was wondering how deep this metal actually extends into the wood (since
>I'd prefer not to try to drill through it!).
This may be a bit off subject, but can anybody tell me why concrete ties
have a dip in the top of them, between the rails? I have seen exceptions to
this. On extra long ties at switches, I have observed ties that are flat
all the way accross.
Thanks in advance for solving this mystery for me.
Dennis Hanley
d...@netvoyage.net
d...@netvoyage.net
To: Multiple recipients of list RAILROAD <RAIL...@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 06:23:04 -0800
Subject: Re: Metal in railroad ties
d...@netvoyage.net
Subject: Re: Metal in railroad ties
Matt Conrad
<lshe...@creighton.edu> wrote:
>Jack Decker <ja...@novagate.com> said:
>
>> I have a quick question and figure that readers of this list ought to
>> know this. I just bought some railroad ties (for landscaping) and want
>> to bolt them together (I have a neighbor who thinks my property is his,
>> but that's a long story I won't get into). Anyway, I note that they
>> have some sort of S-shaped piece of metal in the ends of the ties, and I
>> was wondering how deep this metal actually extends into the wood (since
>> I'd prefer not to try to drill through it!).
>
>The ones I have seen are about an inch (maybe a little more, maybe a little
>less) deep. I don't actually know what they are for, but it appears to
>me that they are intended either to keep the tie from splitting, or
>to repair one that has already started to split.
They're there to *delay* the splitting of the tie end. Nothing will keep
it from splitting, eventually (except rotting away into mulch first). The
metal is a strip about an inch wide and roughly 1/16" thick, curved into
an S shape.
Somebody else said to watch out for date nails, also look out for old
spikes that might still be in the ties, hidden by dirt, or with their
heads broken off. That's common on the ties I've been helping to remove
from a certain shortline museum in SC!
--
-Matt Conrad
J.M.Conrad Co.
http://web.InfoAve.net/~jmconrad/
Prividing fine art and Mac software for train nuts like myself
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