Railroad ties?

[Rob Hough]

I noticed the other day that a local rail crossing has a pile of old railroad ties. I was planning to ask if I could take these off their hands for some landscaping purposes but then got to wondering... Is that wood any good for anything else?

[Jim O'Dell]

No, they are worthless for anything else, IMO. I forget what they are treated with, but it renders it useless for anything you might want to build with wood. I'm not a big fan of using them for landscaping anymore, either. We had a bunch of them around the last house...After about 12 years they were so deteriorated that they fell apart and were a mess to cut up for bulk pick up to take. Remember, they've been sitting in/on the ground and exposed to the elements for many years. If you have a landscaping issue that they could sit and finish rotting with out creating an issue, fine. If you are looking for something that will enhance the look of your house, I'd pass. Jim.

[Jim Becker]

Railroad ties are pretty toxic...unless they are the newer concrete versions. ;)

[Jon Todd]

Some places in the country have made it illegal to use them anymore . They must be replaced with concrete now. they are coated with Creosote and it is pretty toxic

Coal tar creosote
See also: Carbolineum (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Carbolineum)
Another form of creosote is coal tar creosote. Coal tar creosote is the most widely used wood preservative (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Preservative) in the world. It is a thick, oily liquid typically amber to black in colour. The American Wood Preservers' Association states that creosote "shall be a distillate derived entirely from tars produced from the carbonization of bituminous coal." Coal tar used for certain applications may be a mixture of coal tar distillate and coal tar. See, AWPA Standards (http://www.awpa.com/standards/index.asp)
The prevailing use of creosote to preserve wooden utilities/telephone poles, railroad cross ties, switch ties and bridge timbers from decay. Coal tar (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Coal_tar) products are also used in medicines to treat diseases such as psoriasis (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Psoriasis), and as animal and bird repellents, insecticides (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Insecticides), animal dips, and fungicides (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Fungicides). Some over the counter anti-dandruff shampoos contain coal tar solutions. Due to its carcinogenic (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/wiki/Carcinogenic) character, the European Union has banned the sale of creosote treated wood [1] (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/#cite_note-0) and requires that the sale of creosote be limited to professional users.[2] (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/#cite_note-1)[3] (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/#cite_note-2)

[Cody Colston]

Yeah, creosote is toxic if you eat it...but so is a lot of stuff we use. Tip: don't drink anything that resides in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. Creosote will also blister the skin as any fence builder can attest. It does protect the wood very well from rot and insects...just look at all the utility poles that have been standing for decades in the ground.

A bigger issue with used ties is that they are full of rocks and grit. A railroad bed is nothing but a pile of dirt and gravel, usually covering all but the top side of the tie. If the tie has any cracks or voids, it will be full of stuff that you don't want contacting a saw blade. The quickest way I've found to ruin a chainsaw chain is to cut up used cross ties with it.

[Bruce Page]

I had to cut some RR ties for a landscape project. After 2-3 cuts the chain on my chainsaw was toast.
No way would I ever let that stuff near one of my shop tools.

[Clarence Miller]

The house that I live in was built in 1893 and was owned for some time by a local railroad worker. The added support columns predate telepoles and are made of rr ties. I have also used old ties to re build a rifle range about every 2 years or so. Usually it takes a few years to "shoot off" a fresh tie but every once and awhile somebody decides to take it as a challenge and blows a new post to smithereens. I haven't found an exterior finish to protect wood from this particular deterioration. Also the side steps to my porch use ties for the risers. I have had to replace the treads made of douglas fir but the ties are holding up and were there when I bought the house 11 years ago. I wouldn't recommend using them for any furniture building. The biggest problem I run into is when I "trim" them with my chainsaw I will occasionally find an embedded rock that ruins my chain but that's the chance you take with used material.