By Sherry Larson
People’s Defender
Railroad ties are a huge industry. In Adams County, we have many natural resources. How do we directly connect some of those resources like timber to users? How can we as a community directly access the buying and selling process?
McCoy Lumber Company in Peebles and Koppers Inc. want to offer a way and share an opportunity for everyone in the community. Jack, Lear, and Chad McCoy of McCoy Lumber joined representatives Mike Embry and Norman Taylor from Koppers Inc to discuss the mission. Jack McCoy explained, “This venture needs to be shared with our area and not owned by any specific individual or company. This opportunity is for many folks who have maybe never had it. Railroad ties are a new market, and it will be tremendously beneficial. We’re here for the long term.”
A railroad tie is a piece of wood that holds the two railroad tracks together. Ties measure 7 inches thick, 9 inches wide, and 8 feet 8 inches long. Railroad ties have been manufactured in Adams County since the early 1900s. Koppers is a company based in the US that mainly sells ties to railroads in North America. Jack explains, “Koppers has been a market for many people who supplied ties from this rail throughout the years. There was a vat where ties were treated just by putting them in a vat, and they were saturated, unlike the technology out there today.”
Mike Embry, Procurement Area Supervisor from Koppers, explains, “Koppers buys cross ties for the railroad.” Koppers has a zero-harm philosophy for the environment and recommends readers to visit www.koppers.com to learn about their processes and mission. Koppers is using the McCoy lumber yard to buy railroad ties. They purchase the ties when they are untreated. Embry shares, “We would love to buy railroad ties from anybody that wants to sell to us here.” He explained that Koppers sends the ties to one of their nine treatment facilities by rail. They are treated and then sold to class one and short line railroads. Embry clarified that they would buy ties from sawmills or landowners capable of producing ties.
Koppers is giving people in Adams County the chance to sell resources directly to them and use the existing railroad in Peebles. Jack stated, “Just as McCoy Lumber deals directly with them, the opportunity is for others to deal directly with Koppers. This opportunity is to go from a tree in your woodlot and deal straight with Koppers.” Mike Embry and Norman Taylor, Local Field Buyer of Koppers, will assist with navigating the process.
There are many positive factors for the community to consider. Jack explains that even those with standing timber or small wood lots can be informed where they can sell their wood for a better return. He said, “It’s not one segment of our area competing with another, but the area working together to facilitate a market we have. It’s very collaborative.” And it uses infrastructure that Adams County has in place. The railroad track in Peebles has been around for years and used to run from Cincinnati to Portsmouth. Currently, it’s only open from Cincinnati to Peebles. The more freight generated for the railway line benefits the line and Adams County.
The competition for the tie has had peaks and valleys.” Jack continued, “It allows us to consume something that we have here that is exported in many cases.” Lear commented, “It brings stability too. Ties are in a hardwood lumber market that we’re all familiar with.” He explained that the tie market’s stability would help people budget and project profit earnings.
Railroad ties use various wood species, so you are not bound to one or two specific types. Jack explains, “This allows for a consolidation of mixed hardwoods.” Folks who have different varieties of wood have more flexibility in this market. Jack adds that using mixed hardwoods in this product allows for woodland enhancement. He states, “The reason is that there is a demand for certain species or grades in the hardwood industry, and this product takes the heart of the log (the lower valued wood). You put everything together versus just hickory or white or red oak. It’s much more efficient for your forest with this market. The timber owner can take multitudes of species out of the woods for the tie buyer for an immediate revenue stream while retaining those species he wants to manage for future returns and personal preferences.”
Chad adds, “We need to show the sustainable side of harvesting timber. Regarding our industry, and you’re talking about the world, and global side of hardwood lumber, the best marketing plan to be brought forward would be how green it is to manage your forests. And how to sustainably harvest timber in the right manner.” This opportunity also doesn’t require an extensive offering. Lear states, “It could be a guy bringing in one bundle of ties or ten loads of ties.”
The McCoys know the overall benefits of selling railroad ties – they do it. But the opportunity is massive, and it’s something everyone can participate in, from a vast market to a small volume. Jack says, “That’s not out there much today. People can go out to something they own on their property, improve their property, and bring it into the marketplace. It’s foundational for a sawmill. You don’t have to travel. We have a railroad here.” Chad interjects, “We want to ensure to keep the vein of the railroad in our county – that’s important. For any infrastructure in the future, they’re going to look at the rail, and if it’s not here, they’re going to look elsewhere.”
Jack sees this venture as bringing commercial development and jobs to Appalachia. He commented, “It will have a multiplier impact – more than just the person bringing the tie, the person who cuts the tree, and the person who hauls it.” Chad sees it as a boost to the hardwood industry and getting more folks in Adams County back into the hardwood business. Jack states, “All these things will create tax revenue without being subsidized.”
Embry adds, “Kopper’s goal is to create a market for the low-grade timber around here. This market is for many different low-grade species that are perfectly fine for railroad ties.” Jack piggybacks, “Appalachia needs the value added to the raw material that we have.”
Embry concluded, “We are trying to be here (at the McCoy yard) as a convenience for the local people and local sawmills.”
For more information and guidance on selling railroad ties, please get in touch with Koppers’ local representative Norman Taylor at (606) 375-3179. He will point you in the right direction and can assist in finding you a logger.