Hello everyone tonight:

Hi Clark, and thanks for jumping in with that information and clarification.

From what I can make out railway ties were manufactured from many different types of trees, depending on the area that the hewing Companies had control over.

In the extreme west the giant redwoods were cut up in short lengths with very long cross cut saws and then the ties were split out and using the hewing axes they were straightened up somewhat into regular shapes and sizes.

Whole landscapes were cut off to produce railway ties during the era of railway construction that happened about 1840's to 1900, and one of the methods of producing the ties were to fell the trees still attached at the stump, and then walking up along the length of the tree it was flattened and then cut up into ties.

NH