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Stacked wooden ties, Reading RR Creosote plant
Credit: Courtesy of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Railroads were voracious consumers of wood for ties, bridges, construction, and fuel. In the late 1800s railroads used close to one-quarter of the nation's timber production. To insure a plentiful supply of quality timber, some Pennsylvania railroads owned timber farms.