Using railroad ties that have been treated with creosote?


Dolmetscher007

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My father worked for a major US railroad for 40 years until he retired. He told me that even the railroads are no longer using wooden ties, and are replacing them with composite and cement ties. It is such a pity that railroads have used wood for the past 200 years. These ties are not made from fast growing woods like Pine etc. they are made from nice oak hardwood. Such a pity there isn't some kind of chemical way to "neutralize" creasote. 

You know how you can use a base to neutralize an acid... I wish there were some kind of chemical treatment that would un-awful the creasote so that we could all have access to these awesome huge chunks of Oak.  But I'm sure even if this were possible, it would cost more than it's worth. Anyway... thanks for all the comments guys!

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  • 3 years later...

Seriously, the creosote is bad news. Just handling ties can blisted your skin, even if you aren't normally sensitive. And inhaling creosote sawdust is going to do bad things to your lungs. Unless those ties are treated with some other method, I would stay away from them. I handled many during my late teens, building landscape retaining walls. We never cut with anything finer than a chainsaw, so airborne dust wasn't a problem, but handling those (very) used ties still caused 1st degree chemical burns through normal shirt sleeves.

In the 1930s, there was a creosote factory here in town. My great uncle was hospitalized with skin blisters after working there for a single day. The place closed in the 1950s, and sat empty until the 1980s saw the beginnings of "Superfund Site" cleanup. Not until the mid 1990s was the property considered usable for new construction. Some portions of it are still fenced off as unusable.

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Yep, wtn that's my experience as well. Cut with a chainsaw or else you don't have the right piece. That said, I love RR ties for the more rustic settings where you need to mark a curve in the driveway or support some earth somewhere, etc etc. Drive some rebar or other steel in there and pile 'em up. They do last a long time, and at some point they no longer stink. But you don't want them in your back yard, I wouldn't think.

I personally haven't had skin issues handling them but I can see where it could be nasty. I didn't always use gloves. But then again, this from a guy who is also barely bothered installing fiberglass insulation.

Frankly I doubt any varnish would stick to that stuff, but I could be way off there. They're both oil based?

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  • 3 weeks later...

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