A few days ago, while taking a train, a big brother next to me stared at the fleeting scenery outside the window and suddenly asked with his soul, "Why isn't this wooden pier under the railway track weathered by wind, rain, and sun? What kind of black technology is used

I almost sprayed out the water I just drank. Wooden pillar - such a simple and unadorned term. They clearly have a proper name, called oil filled sleepers.

But the big brother's question does have something to ask. Think about it, there are tens or even hundreds of tons of big guys running on the tracks every day, and the sleepers below not only have to bear this weight, but also have to deal with soil, rainwater, and various bacteria and insects all year round. If our own wooden table were so messy, it should have been scattered and burned as firewood long ago. But why can these sleepers last for more than ten years or even longer?

It's all about that 'oil'.

Speaking of the production of these sleepers, it is truly a wooden version of 'Nirvana Rebirth'. The pine wood pulled from the lumber factory still carries the scent of the forest, with clear textures and a slight pine aroma. But at this moment, they are just amateurs with a good foundation, but they are not yet resistant to construction. If left untreated and directly laid under the railway tracks, it won't take long for the fungus to make it clear, and even insects can hold several concerts inside.

So hard dishes must be served - soaked in oil.

This process, in other words, is to make the wood "drink oil". It's not the kind of oil we use for cooking, it's a type of oil specifically used for preservation. But today we won't talk about the composition of oil, we'll only talk about this process, which is called "soaking".

A huge jar, subjected to high temperature and pressure, with pine wood neatly arranged one by one, was pushed forward. Then the anti-corrosion oil is put into the tank, not applied to the surface of the wood for appearance, but drilled hard into it. Penetrating bit by bit along the texture of the wood. The most crucial indicator for this step is depth. So the word 'immersion' is not just a casual word, the depth of immersion in oil often exceeds 13 millimeters.

What is the concept of 13mm? You take a knife and stab it deep, but you still come across wood soaked in oil. This protective shell is tightly wrapped inside and outside. Water cannot enter, insects cannot bite, and fungi have no way to put their mouths down. The originally soft pine wood has undergone such a transformation from a "little fresh meat" to a "tough guy".

The processed sleepers immediately turn dark in color, giving a slightly oily feel to the touch but not greasy. Laying under the railway tracks, that's called stability. Years have passed, and the wood outside may have turned a little gray from the wind and sun, but the core inside is still the oil soaked layer, very hard.

Sometimes when I look at these sleepers, I feel like they are a bit like old-fashioned craftsmen - quiet but very reliable. The train roared over them, and they silently carried it. It's raining, it's okay, it's been soaked in oil; It's sunny, don't worry, it's soaked in oil; The bug came, turned its head and left, soaked in oil.

Looking back, the big brother who asked me a question on the train, if he had known about the "wooden pillars" under his feet, each of which was deeply soaked in oil for more than 13 millimeters, and had undergone such a hardcore transformation, he would have felt that this operation was indeed something.

Wood would have decayed until it encountered the oil immersion. From then on, wind and rain were all small things, and the weight of the train was carried.