The Cross-Tie
On U.S. Highway 287/89 between Moran Junction & Dubois

The tall, slightly tapered lodgepole pine is ideal for a cross-tie. The tie hack chose his tree and felled it with a double-bitted ax. Using the same tool, he walked the log from end to end cutting a series of parallel slashes on each side of the log. The slightest miscalculation could mean the loss of a toe or foot. Retracing his steps, he hewed the two side faces smooth with the broad ax. The faces were exactly 7 inches apart and so smooth that not even a splinter could be found with the bare hand.

The tie hack then traded his ax for a peeler and removed the bark from the two rounded sides. The final operation was to cut the peeled and hacked log into the 8 foot sections required by the railroad.

Each tie hack owned and cared for his own equipment which cost him his first 10 days of work.

Cross-ties were in demand by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad as it spanned Wyoming. The Wyoming Tie and Timber Company was formed in 1916 in Riverton to supply the ties—it took 2,500 ties for a mile of track.

The main center of tie production was the lodgepole pine forest that surrounds you. Three to five ties, eight feet in length, were hewn from the clear, limb-free trunks.

Wyoming was undeveloped country with few roads. Water was the most economical method of moving the ties from forest to the railhead at Riverton.