Axe ties are railwayties (or sleeper)[1] that arehewn by hand, usually with abroadaxe. 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 asaw, as it was claimed that thekerf of the saw splintered the fibres of the wood, leaving them more likely to soak up moisture causing prematurerot.
Geoff Marples wrote an account of being atiehack in theEast Kootenays in 1938 and described the process of making axe ties to include:[2][3] First a suitable tree was chosen and thenfelling andlimbing the tree. Next camescoring 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 cameskidding each group of ties to a landing with a team of horses, and then loading andhauling 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, aselectric power came into more common use in the early 1900s, it was substituted with other species such asTamarack. In northern regions wherejack 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. Ascreosote 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 inOntario along the railway in the early 1900s. Examples includeFoleyet andNemegos.