Stacked railway ties - Date/Photographer unknown.

31 March 2012

Please Leave Rail Ties Be Asks CP Railway

Medicine Hat Alberta - If you happen to see a pile of old railroad ties near area tracks, leave them alone. Taking one or more of them home would be theft.
 
Although numerous piles of decommissioned railroad ties have been left alongside the Trans-Canada highway between Dunmore and Irvine, Canadian Pacific officials say they will all be picked up by the company.
 
Four individuals were seen removing ties from one of those piles earlier this week, but CP spokesman Kevin Hyrsak says such activity is breaking the law.
 
"Obviously... you don't take property that isn't yours already," said Hyrsak. "This is something that we deter people from doing. We don't want people taking them and using them for any other purpose."
 
Hyrsak says the ties are coated with coal-tar creosote before they are installed and that they are not good options for placement in a garden area, or in areas where pets will be spending time.
 
"It is an oil-based product... it prolongs the longevity of the tie. These are not safe... the type of stuff that you wouldn't want in your food if it did have a chance to seep into your garden."
 
The ties, when retrieved later this year, will not be simply tossed away but will be recycled, Hyrsak said.
 
"They usually go to a co-generation facility where they burn them for energy production," says Hyrsak.
 
The ties were removed last fall after a summer wild fire east of the city caused extensive damage to the rail line between Dunmore and Irvine.
 
As part of CP's regular maintenance program they were decommissioned and replaced. A separate crew of lineman will be in the area later this spring to retrieve the ties.
 
Stacey Lee.