Axe ties are railway

ties TIES may refer to: * TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science * TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System * TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence * Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science The ''Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science' ...

(or sleeper) that are

hewn In woodworking, hewing is the process of converting a log from its rounded natural form into lumber (timber) with more or less flat surfaces using primarily an axe. It is an ancient method, and before the advent of the industrial-era type of ...

by hand, usually with a

broadaxe A broadaxe is a large (broad)-headed axe. There are two categories of cutting edge on broadaxes, both are used for shaping logs by hewing. On one type, one side is flat, and the other side beveled, a basilled edge, also called a side axe, sing ...

. There are 2,900 ties per mile of track on a first class railroad. The early railways would not accept ties cut with a

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...

, as it was claimed that the

kerf A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

of the saw splintered the fibres of the wood, leaving them more likely to soak up moisture causing premature rot.

The process

Geoff Marples wrote an account of being a ''tiehack'' in the

East Kootenay The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...

s in 1938 and described the process of making axe ties to include:Marples, Geoff. "The Tiehack", part 2.. ''British Columbia Forest History Newsletter''. No. 61.
December 2000. Victoria, B. C., Forest History Association of British Columbia. p. 1-4. print. First a suitable tree was chosen and then ''

felling Felling is the process of cutting down trees,"Feller" def. 2. and "Felling", def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009 an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees ...

'' and ''

limbing Limbing or delimbing is the process of removing branches from a standing or fallen tree trunk. In logging, limbing follows felling. Limbing plays a role in fire prevention by removing branches from live trees that can otherwise serve as part of ...

'' the tree. Next came ''scoring'' which is chopping, by eye without a chalk line, of notches to remove extra wood about every ; ''hewing'' the trunks only on two sides unless the log was over in diameter; ''

bucking Bucking is a movement performed by an animal in which it lowers its head and raises its hindquarters into the air while kicking out with the hind legs. It is most commonly seen in herbivores such as equines, cattle, deer, goats, and sheep. Most r ...

'' (cutting to in this case ); ''peeling'' any remaining bark off; and stacking the ties so a chain can be wrapped around them. Next came '' skidding'' each group of ties to a landing with a team of horses, and then loading and ''hauling'' the ties to a railway siding by truck and unloading by hand. ''Scaling'' was the key event where a railroad inspector accepted or culled (rejected) and graded each tie as a number one ( used for the main railroad lines) or number two ( used for sidings). ''Loading'' the ties by hand onto a car was the last task. Marples wrote that he netted 48¢ for each grade one, and 36¢ for each grade two and made $150 for a winter's work.

Wood species

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

was the most sought after wood for ties, since it is known for being extremely resistant to rot. However, as electric power came into more common use in the early 1900s, it was substituted with other species such as

Tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

. In northern regions where

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

was plentiful, that species became a more common source for railway ties. Jack pine ties did not last as long as cedar or tamarack (lying on the ground), but were cheaper to produce. As

creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types were ...

treatment came into use the axe ties were phased out, but jack pine remained best suited for softwood ties.

Production in Canada

Axe tie production was an early industry of importance for many communities in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

along the railway in the early 1900s. Examples include Foleyet and Nemegos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Axe Ties Permanent way Wood products