Oregon Woods for Crossties

Specimen crossties 7 inches by 9 inches by 8 feet long were sawn from timbers grown in areas of potential future supply in Oregon, and were air-seasoned, bored and incised, then pressure treated with a solution of coal-tar creosote in petroleum. These were installed on the Southern Pacific Company’s main-line tracks in Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona and inspected after periods from 4 to 11 years. Ties of most coniferous species tested could be air-dried sufficiently for treatment between early spring and the following fall. Tanoak ties required about 1 year of drying. White fir and West Coast hemlock ties accepted treatment as well as Douglas-fir, but Sitka spruce treated less easily and penetration in incense cedar and Shasta red fir was erratic. The sapwood of lodgepole pine and tanoak treated easily, but the heartwood was resistant to treatment. Some difference among the species was observed in resistance to mechanical wear and development of seasoning defects, and about 1.5 percent of the 12,000 ties placed became unserviceable and were replaced because of large checks, splits, and plate cutting under rails. None decayed during the exposure period, and serviceability of those remaining cannot be predicted now.

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