What's the Deal with Railroad Ties? | History in the Dark

Though they've been a constant in railroading, we don't often think of the cuboid things in-between the rails. Whether you call them ties or sleepers, they're there to hold the rails still and make sure everything stays as it should be.
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#history #trains #railroad #ties #railroadties #sleepers #sleeper

[@grahamdeamer128]

The experience of walking beside a railway track can never be complete without that gorgeous, evocative, smell of creosote!

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

And in some parts the throat irritation because some US lines in the West and Southwest west used mine tailings for ballast! I imagine it cant be good for my aluminium mountain bike either.

[@kamokev_92]

I gotta say one thing, Darkness, I actually liked the smell of Creosote. For some reason it was just like a sweet, strong smell of a hard day's work. And one other thing y'all, if you get it on your skin, it WILL BURN YOU. Cold water and soap as quick as you can around that stuff.

[@LatitudeSky]

Used to live near a factory that made treated telephone poles. The fragrance of creosote always made me hungry.

[@arrowguy173]

Practical Engineering channel shows how they help keep expansion from buckling track.

[@HowieDewitt535]

I'm just imagining a comedian now walking onto stage and saying "What's the deal with railroad ties!"

[@HopelessRailmantic]

I have seen ties made from recycled rail. Two 8-foot sections with tie plates are all welded together. The Delaware & Hudson Railroad made these during the Great Depression for use in their yards. I'm assuming that they were not used on the main line because of the signaling systems of the time.

[@295g295]

> 5:36

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The stone blocks have also made a comeback - 2 reinforced concrete blocks with a length of steel to hold them together. Damn, you mentioned them before finished typing.they are used in Denmark on the S-tog lines in Copenhagen. Ladder sleepers are often used on bridges in the UK and were used on Brunel's broad gauge.

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

A drawback of using two pot sleepers attached by a steel bar, is that even the most minor of derailments closes the gauge, so no trains can run until the sleepers have been replaced. Whereas a minor slow speed derailment may only gouge or chip timber or concrete. Something a bit more serious might leave the track usable at slow speed, perhaps after some repair.

[@haydendegrow945]

The stairway to get up the hill to my cabin consists of seven old repurposed railway ties... My great-grandma apparently installed them in the 1960s... When my Dad asked where she got them, she said that if he found out, she'd have to kill him... kinda makes you think of what kind of rebel my g-grandma was, doesn't it?😁

[@kinghousebd4748]

Creosote smells awesome it’s the best railroad smell

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

A standard British softwood sleeper 10" x 5" x 8'-6" was traditionally vacuum impregnated with three imperial gallons of Creosote.

[@alexhajnal107]

@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 What's that in teacups?

[@anthonyj7989]

Still going on about different gauge rail lines in Australia. I used to cut and drill sleepers in Australia and if you think standard gauge rails should be a thing, have you ever considered the problems in making a standard gauge rail line under ground for a coal mine. Timber sleepers in the southern part of Australia were made mostly of a timber called ironbark and it was hard and heavy (saws, chainsaws and drill bits did not stay sharp for long). Other Australian hardwoods were also used, mainly of a variety of woods that have a red colour to them, because these types of timbers became harder over time. In the northern part of Australia steel sleepers were used, because of an insect called termites which would eat the sleepers as fast as you laid them. In coal mines they took any type of hard wood sleepers, because they were not meant to last long. Today, just about all main lines and city lines use concrete sleepers (in NSW and I think most other states as well).

[@AutismTakesOn]

To be fair, Darkness was talking about mainlines, NOT industries. For space and financial constraints, different gauges make sense. Additionally, minerals like coal are easy to transfer: Bottom-dumping hopper cars have existed for ages. All you need is a chute, and, BAM! Easy transfer from narrow to standard gauge hoppers! And for industries, standardization is a good thing. It's not always possible, but when it can be done, it saves a lot of hassle.

[@kenbrown2808]

my parents bought a load of used ties back in the 70s, and used some of them as parking bumpers at their store. the ties are still there, but they've been retired for years.

[@grmpEqweer]

Plastic dry rots from solar exposure, unless something that resists UV is used. Just noting, maybe the composite is treated for that? I'd be worried it would lose necessary flexibility, get brittle.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

When I was younger, I saw steel ties diacarded near a western line that serviced, both miltary and mining facilities during the thirtys. I did not know what I was looking at, then, till I saw them in this video a moment ago!

[@dazaspc]

Actually the use of sleepers in non sleeper applications is regulated more than you would think. It used to be a thing to build a boundary fence from Sleepers. They work very well, keeping noise, wind and even out of control cars from entering your property. However it was made illegal in some states of Australia due to their property of being bullet proof and criminal gangs would use them as fences around important properties as well as their homes.

[@kylben]

I did model railroading when I was younger, and I laid my own track with individual spikes on individually placed balsa wood ties that I treated with actual creosote. My bedroom smelled of it forever.

[@BattleshipOrion]

Just a fun fact: the first concept of the modern "train" can dated to a paper from ancient Rome. I also have a spike from back when my local rail-line was still under the C&O. It was pulled from the tracks during a tie replacement project, and I got a spike. I also got a 1" thick peice of RAIL, yes RAIL. It weighs in at 2 &1/2 pounds. It was an off cut from a switch that was being replaced.

[@Straswa]

Fascinating information History in the Dark, nice video.

[@schudder1623]

steel ties are used on bridges and on tracks where the trackbed cant be too heavy, and Y ties are used where there is not much sapce, for example in old tunnels or thin trackbeds, and yes in germany it is forbidden to build with old wooden ties because they are soaked in a tar-like material ;)

[@roberthuron9160]

An addendum; In the construction of the IND subway,in New York,the engineers used a monolithic roadbed! The ties were/are embedded in concrete,and and are primarily used in stations,and tunnel trackage,under the rivers! On the elevated areas,standard ties,and ballast are used! That was one application overlooked! Very interesting video,and a suggestion,could you do a video,on signaling systems,as there is a fairly wide variety,and might make a multivolume history! Thank you! Thank you 😇 😊!

[@mdavid1955]

I'm surprise that wooden ties are still the mainstay in the US...I'm sure it comes down cost.

[@krzysztofkolodziejczyk4335]

One thing was not mentioned - wooden ties give more supple ride then other materials. Still, wood is not really being used anymore in rail construction in all of Europe, not only Germany. Y shaped steel ties in Germany are being withdrawn because of corrosion problems.

[@joelchristensen9503]

Highly informative great video

[@grmpEqweer]

A local scandal: One Houston neighborhood is experiencing an epidemic of cancer from creosote in the soil. The creosote was used by (IIRC) Union Pacific to treat their wooden ties.

[@warmstrong5612]

HitD: Easily gauge convertible. Australia: Just think of all the different track gauges we can have! HitD: No, I meant you cou... Australia: Thanks for the great idea there Bud! HitD: But you don't... Australia: I'm gonna make SO MANY GAUGES! HitD:......

[@harrisonallen651]

Sleepers are the most common image when it comes to railway tracks

[@charlesdorval394]

lmao I read the title as "What's the deal with Railroad Tires", took me a second to catch up

[@clonecommando-cn6bo]

What we need is more double track built on the mainlines to stop with the traffic jams

[@hillbillytrucker8347]

Used to work in a sawmill and when we would saw cross ties everyone hated it. Because you were going to work your butt off because of their weight when green. Because they would be cut from red oak at the mill i worked at because this allowed them to use the lower grade logs for the ties.

[@danielstickney2400]

Sleeper is the generic term for a horizontal beam set on the ground to support a structure. Tie is the shortened form of crosstie, which is a sleeper set across the roadbed that ties the rails together. So a tie is a sleeper but not all sleepers are ties. Those individual stone blocks are sleepers that are not ties. One could even argue that the cross ties on a bridge or trestle are not sleepers because they are not set on the ground but that's getting too pedantic. Sleepers are used to support all sorts of structures, not just railroad rails.

[@jappedut9009]

The concrete/steel sleepers are being faced out in Denmark because the steel part tended to rust in our wet clima

[@lassepeterson2740]

Soft wood for hard ballast and hard wood for soft ballast .

[@nopamineLevel100]

Obviously I love trains, but I'm actually more interested in the railway infrastructure. Switching alone is insane!

[@generalprincecodyhedgewolf2944]

My Dad used the decommissioned wooden ties For Making a all vegetable Garden, To grow Corn, Onion, Melon and other Veggetables

[@geoffgunn9673]

Same as my old man. He had easy access to them being a station master. Always had them two high on their side around the garden beds

[@geebs76]

The first time I saw the Y-shaped railroad ties was when I visited the awesome Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (Harz Narrow Gauge Railroad) in Germany in 2010.

[@Austriantrainguy]

Austrian ties are pretty comfortable to ride on. Guess why I know that. (Also german concrete ties really like to fall appart and so many raillines had to decrease their speedlimit to a lower speed ´cause they are too lazy to repair them)

[@wdubbelo]

you could say they have a lot ties to the railways :)

[@SMichaelDeHart]

BSA Eagle Award huh?? Good for you. I'm the last of 5 brothers to all earn our Eagle. Mine In 1981. Troop 6 Buckskin Council, WV.

[@lassepeterson2740]

I seen plastic ties . But why does heavy rail use wood and light rail concrete as often observed ?

[@Nastyswimmer]

The old stone blocks weren't ties - they didn't tie the rails together.

[@thestrangechannelofjeff7426]

It's illegal to use wood railway ties in Canada as aswell

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

I love the smell of creosote my arena for training the horses and retaining walls are all old spent ties from the 40s

[@alexhajnal107]

04:08 I *love* the smell of creosote.

[@kmcc01]

At first I thought this was going to be a safety video. Yes sir, back in the day when railroad workers could railroad: love those Dutch drops. Now the dam railroad companies have taken the fun out of it and made it monotonous. And I always liked the smell of creosote.

[@thedoctor2102]

Creosote. If you are ever working with it and end up with sone splashed on your legs, whatever you do, DO NOT, use kerosene to clean it off.

[@andrewbowen4544]

Thank you Mr George Stephenson for the British gauge the western world use. Expect Australia where been upside down effects their thinking. The French for their TGV.

[@matthewq4b]

Concrete ties do not have a longer service life than wood in many northern climes

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

In the UK concrete sleepers last about two or three times as long as softwood depending on the weight of traffic.

[@matthewq4b]

@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 No one with any common sense uses softwood sleepers. Wood can also handle much higher loading and is why it is still used in 95% of the trackage in North America where equipment weights and loads are heavier than basically all other rail systems.

[@geoffgunn9673]

I would gather the difference in the temperatures between seasons would micro crack them over time. They need to take a lesson of the Roman’s and use chunky lime in the mix so it self heals

[@krzysztofkolodziejczyk4335]

Yes, that is the case in Poland. Turned out wood and concrete ties last about the same.

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

@@matthewq4b We still have hundreds of miles of softwood sleepered track mostly dating back to the 1950's and 60's in our more minor lines. Not been used much for relaying since then, but a fair few are used for patch replacement maintenance. There is also loading and loading a different sleeper my suit for heavy and slow than lighter and fast. Freight on the British mainline network typically runs at 75MPH with a 25 ton axle load. The impact loads generated may be similar to those caused by heavier but slower trains. While American trains are often much longer, the number of passing axles my be similar, as the services here are much more frequent. With lines running at capacity for most of the day.

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

Has anyone counted the number of ties between Chicago, IL and Los Angles, CA on the route of the Southwest Chief? Anyone? Not even a standard deviation? FRA? Oh well, i guess ties do not matter :P

[@clonecommando-cn6bo]

I’ll tell you what the deal is. Wooden ties are better off for low speed railroads. Concrete is infinite. And now recycled plastic synthetic ties last longer in some regions of the United States

[@DeliciousBoi]

Yeah but how do you get used ties for you projects?? I ain't never seen any for sale or sitting beside the tracks to take.

[@user-li6es1so1k]

I've seen them sold by landscaping/gardening centers. A quick check of Home Depot's website shows that at least they sell them. (Not affiliated with Home Depot.). From what I've seen, the railroads generally will either try to recycle them elsewhere on their property and/or ship them to biomass companies for electricity generation.

[@massmike11]

Home depot and garden centers generally have them here in northern Arizona

[@paulrobinson3649]

You missed longitudinal timbers! Now there's a silly subject.

[@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2]

He did mention them but under the name ladder ties, also known as wheel timbers on the ex BR Southern Region system.