Axe ties are railway ties (or sleeper) [1] that are hewn by hand, usually with a broadaxe. There are 2,900 ties per mile of track on a first class railroad.[ clarification needed ] The early railways would not accept ties cut with a saw, as it was claimed that the kerf of the saw splintered the fibres of the wood, leaving them more likely to soak up moisture causing premature rot.
Geoff Marples wrote an account of being a tiehack in the East Kootenays in 1938 and described the process of making axe ties to include: [2] [3] First a suitable tree was chosen and then felling and limbing the tree. Next came scoring which is chopping, by eye without a chalk line, of notches to remove extra wood about every 10 inches (250 mm); hewing the trunks only on two sides unless the log was over 11 inches (280 mm) in diameter; bucking (cutting to in this case 8 ft or 2.4 m); 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 (7 by 9 in or 180 by 230 mm used for the main railroad lines) or number two (6 by 6 in or 150 by 150 mm used for sidings). Loading the 200-pound (91 kg) 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.
Cedar 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. In northern regions where jack pine 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 treatment came into use the axe ties were phased out, but jack pine remained best suited for softwood ties.
Axe tie production was an early industry of importance for many communities in Ontario along the railway in the early 1900s. Examples include Foleyet and Nemegos.
The Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Mexican Douglas-fir.
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes, including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing. Lumber has many uses beyond home building. Lumber is referred to as timber in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, while in other parts of the world the term timber refers specifically to unprocessed wood fiber, such as cut logs or standing trees that have yet to be cut.
Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), and particle board.
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 the sawmills, it was a standard way of squaring up wooden beams for timber framing. Today it is still used occasionally for that purpose by anyone who has logs, needs beams, and cannot or would prefer not to pay for finished lumber. Thus, homesteaders on frugal budgets, for example, may hew their own lumber rather than buy it.
The Kettle Valley Railway was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that operated across southern British Columbia, west of Midway running to Rock Creek, then north to Myra Canyon, down to Penticton over to Princeton, Coalmont, Brookmere, Coquihalla and finally Hope where it connected to the main CPR line.
The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track.
A railway track or railroad track (NAmE), also known as permanent way (CwthE) or "P Way" BrE and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable, low-friction surface on which their wheels can roll. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast-iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers. Since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement was often named Decapod, especially in the United States, although this name was sometimes applied to locomotives of 0-10-0 "Ten-Coupled" arrangement, particularly in the United Kingdom. Notable German locomotives of this type include the war locomotives of Class 52.
Thuja plicata is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific red cedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, or shinglewood. It is not a true cedar of the genus Cedrus. T. plicata is the largest species in the genus Thuja, growing up to 70 metres (230 ft) tall and 7 m (23 ft) in diameter. It mostly grows in areas that experience a mild climate with plentiful rainfall, although it is sometimes present in drier areas on sites where water is available year-round, such as wet valley bottoms and mountain streamsides. The species is shade-tolerant and able to establish in forest understories and is thus considered a climax species. It is a very long-lived tree, with some specimens reaching ages of well over 1,000 years.
A railroad tie, crosstie, railway tie or railway sleeper is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.
Siding or wall cladding is the protective material attached to the exterior side of a wall of a house or other building. Along with the roof, it forms the first line of defense against the elements, most importantly sun, rain/snow, heat and cold, thus creating a stable, more comfortable environment on the interior side. The siding material and style also can enhance or detract from the building's beauty. There is a wide and expanding variety of materials to side with, both natural and artificial, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Masonry walls as such do not require siding, but any wall can be sided. Walls that are internally framed, whether with wood, or steel I-beams, however, must always be sided.
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 also south into the upper northeastern United States from Minnesota to Cranesville Swamp, West Virginia; there is also an isolated population in central Alaska.
Glacier National Park is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada, and one of seven national parks in British Columbia. Established in 1886, the park encompasses 1,349 km2 (521 sq mi), and includes a portion of the Selkirk Mountains, which are part of the larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site.
Clapboard, also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
Wood shingles are thin, tapered pieces of wood primarily used to cover roofs and walls of buildings to protect them from the weather. Historically shingles, also known as shakes, were split from straight grained, knot free bolts of wood. Today shingles are mostly made by being cut which distinguishes them from shakes, which are made by being split out of a bolt.
The OC&E Woods Line State Trail is a rail trail in Klamath and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is Oregon's longest state park. The trail follows the old OC&E and Weyerhaeuser railroads from Klamath Falls to Thompson Reservoir. Along its 105-mile (169 km) length it passes through the communities of Olene, Sprague River, Dairy, Beatty, and Bly.
The western larch is a species of larch native to the mountains of western North America ; in Canada in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, and in the United States in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. It is the most productive of the three species of larch native to North America.
Calocedrus decurrens, with the common names incense cedar and California incense cedar, is a species of coniferous tree native to western North America. It is the most widely known species in the genus, and is often simply called incense cedar without the regional qualifier.
Englewood Railway was a logging railroad on northern Vancouver Island, Canada. Headquartered in Woss, British Columbia, the line ran 90 km (56 mi) from Vernon Lake, through Woss, and past Nimpkish Lake Provincial Park to Beaver Cove. It was the last operating logging railroad in North America. After 100 years of use, railway operations ceased on November 7, 2017, following a deadly derailment in April of that year.
The Beltrami Island State Forest is a state forest located in Lake of the Woods, Roseau, and Beltrami counties, Minnesota. Named after Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami, it is the second-largest state forest in the Minnesota system after Pine Island State Forest. The largest wildlife management area in the state at 321,149 acres (129,964 ha), the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area, is located within the forest. The majority of the forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, although a significant portion are tribal lands belonging to the neighboring Red Lake Band of Ojibwe.