Imagine the sleepers on the railway, like the strong warriors silently supporting the tracks. They are underground, enduring the heavy pressure of trains and the erosion of wind and rain day after day. But have you ever thought about how these woods can persist for so many years? The secret lies in a seemingly ancient but actually very clever method - giving wood a thorough 'oil bath'.
Before becoming a part of the railway, ordinary pine sleepers were actually quite fragile. Wet soil is like a chronic poison to them, while fungi and moths are invisible threats. Although they are born with a protective layer of pine resin, ordinary wood often rots after less than ten years in the damp underground environment. So, railway engineers have been trying their best to add a stronger layer of protection to these woods.
This protection process is like giving wood a super SPA. Firstly, store fresh pine wood outdoors and use prolonged exposure to wind and sun to remove excess moisture from the wood. After the moisture content of the wood decreases, place it in a huge container filled with special anti-corrosion oil. You can imagine that wood in this scorching oil is like enjoying a hot spring bath, with oil molecules constantly penetrating into the fibers of the wood, like putting a layer of anti-corrosion super armor on the wood. This process lasts for several hours until the wood absorbs enough oil to ensure that its core is also fully protected.
The pine sleepers treated with "oil bath" feel like they have been reborn. Their internal structure, which was originally easily decomposed by microorganisms, is now reinforced with oil and has become even stronger. Fiber tissue, which used to swell when exposed to water, can now maintain a stable shape due to its insulation from moisture. This approach is like buying a lifetime pension insurance for wood, extending its lifespan from less than ten years to over a decade or even decades.
Even better, this oil immersion process retains the natural toughness of pine wood. As the train rumbles past, the sleepers will slightly bend under the pressure of the steel rails and then quickly rebound, like an elastic spring bed. This combination of rigidity and flexibility is an important secret for the smooth operation of railways.
These sleepers are like unsung heroes of the railway, supporting the entire railway system with their strong 'will'. Whether you are in the forests and snowy plains of Northeast China or in the towering mountains of Southwest China, you can see the figures of these anti-corrosion sleepers. They take root in the earth, using their bodies soaked in oil to resist the erosion of time.
An old railway worker once joked that: "These wood will be more durable than our cured meat after being soaked in oil bath!" Although this is just a joke, it reveals the true meaning of this anti-corrosion process. This thorough oil baptism has endowed wood with a survival wisdom that transcends nature. When we are comfortably sipping tea and enjoying the scenery in the train carriage, let's think about those "oil soaked wood" buried deep underground, silently carrying the displacement dream of the entire era with their petrified toughness.
