By Walter Weart

The economy keeps sputtering, but crosstie purchases and production aren't — at least they weren't through the year's first eight months. Railroads continued to take advantage of wider work windows to maintain and improve more track, including the replacement of millions of ties.

Through August, tie purchases rose 0.3 percent to 15.1 million units and production jumped 29 percent to 16.5 million units compared with figures from 2008's first eight months, according to the Railway Tie Association (RTA). Although production — which has been easing since May — fell an unseasonal-like 13 percent in August alone, purchases rose 1 percent.

Railroads "have done a remarkable job" of maintaining their networks at optimal levels in the face of the eroding economy and declining traffic, said RTA Executive Director Jim Gauntt in an email.

However, the recession eventually will take a toll on railroads' maintenance-of-way (MOW) spending and tie demand, he believes. Demand is dependent on freight traffic levels, MOW budgets and tie condition changes over a two-year period. The history of a recession's impact on demand shows the second year of a deep recession is worse than the first, said Gauntt, referring to a data model based on the past 23 years.

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