Railway sleepers...how useful?

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:58 am

Lots of untreated new oak railway sleepers available on ebay (UK) but they're aimed at landscape gardeners.

How difficult is it to get into using green timber, drying it out etc. and do you think it would be worth the trouble?

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:56 am

jm51 wrote:Lots of untreated new oak railway sleepers available on ebay (UK) but they're aimed at landscape gardeners.

How difficult is it to get into using green timber, drying it out etc. and do you think it would be worth the trouble?

I knew when I saw the term "railway sleepers" that this must be you.

On this side of the pond we usually call them "cross-ties" and they are always awake.

I am just heading out the door but I will hit this again later. What size are those sleepers usually?
Sounds like maybe a good source if the price is right.

.

dforeman · Post by **dforeman** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:32 am

I haven't heard that term before. Railway Sleepers... Interesting description.

Like Robinson said, on this side of the pond we call them Cross Timbers or Cross Ties. But typically on this side of the pond they are not very good for anything other than their intended RR use or for some sort of support structure (retaining walls, foundations, etc). That is mainly because they are typically saturated with Coal Tar Creosote as a preservative. Not something you would want to spend any amount of time in direct contact with. It is not too bad if it has aged and dried well but the freshly applied stuff will put out a harsh noxious odor (plus it is also considered to be a cancer causing agent). As for a good source of project wood, I guess that would depend on what you are planning to make and how expensive/difficult it is to get hardwood in your area (it does take a little time to cure/dry). I'd just recommend that you be cautious about what they may have treated the timbers with (that is if they treat them on your side of the pond or not).

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:54 am

Railroad ties or sleepers are usually cut from the center of the log and contain the pith, therefore they are prone to splitting and checking. Perhaps if they were resawn into 1" lumber something useful could be obtained, but then again there's a reason they were sawn into ties originally and not lumber. Your best bet is to personally take a look at them to get an idea of what you'd be up against. Perhaps you could pick some good ones and have them resawn or give it a try yourself.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 11:20 am

All of them I've seen have BIG SPLITS in em.

jm51 · Post by **jm51** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 11:23 am

Hardwood is expensive here. Completed auction on ebay: American Black Walnut offcuts, 32" long, 3/4" thick, 2 @ 4" wide, 3 @ 5" and 2 @ 6" wide.

4 bids, went for £31 plus £12 shipping. So almost $70.

So compared to other hardwood here, 'cross ties'

are cheap. Usually 4" or 5" thick, 8" or 9" wide and 8 foot long. £20 to £25 if untreated oak.

This page shows some furniture and flooring done as well as the usual garden stuff.

http://railwaysleepersuk.co.uk/gallery2.html

dforeman · Post by **dforeman** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 3:13 pm

Oooo... I see. They are not necessarily what I would call Cross Ties or Cross Timbers. Those look more like rough sawn timbers. Not necessarily the timbers I would associate with RR use (like I mentioned those are treated with creosote here).

If hardwood in your area is very expensive, you might want to consider giving it a try. Hardwood here in my area is readily available. Cost, well it all depends on demand and availability at the time of purchase. But, anyway I still bought several Green Rough Sawn White Oak Boards at an auction last year for $5 each (cheaper than I could have purchased them). I currently have them set up and drying in my barn. So, yes it can be do-able. You just need the space and a little patience/time to let them naturally dry. When I reshuffled my pile back in the spring, a lot of the boards were still fairly wet. Really the whole thing with Green Rough Sawn Timber is the time it takes for the wood to cure/dry and you need someplace undercover to do that. Ultimately, kiln drying would be the best least time consuming method but not many folks have one of those lying around.

mgdesigns · Post by **mgdesigns** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:12 pm

I guess maybe in the US we are a bit spoiled by the (?) abundance of hardwoods. Remember history? The Crown would have 90% of the oak sent back to England from the Colonist in the original 13 colonies. What what left behind was called "The King's Wood". We provided the hardwood that made the British Fleet so large after 1600.

If the sleepers are not treated with stuff like creosote - go for it. Buy one sleeper and resaw it to boards and stack & sticker it for drying. There's been great re-purposing of all kinds of wood (pallets, shipping dunnage, etc.) so this wood can certainly be useful. I made 15 Magic Wands for my daughter's last themed (Harry Potter) birthday party from scrap dunnage from Home Depot. That was free wood.