Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Friday Filler
Late in the 19th century, the Central Pacific Railroad planted nearly a million trees to provide lumber for construction and maintenance of the railroad. Unfortunately, they soon discovered that the lumber from that species was unsuitable for the purpose.
What kind of trees were they?
A guess..
Could it have been a Koala smorgasborg?
Re: Friday Filler
Eucalyptus?
BTW - the first transcontinental railroad was acrossed
the Isthmus of Panama - to get "Forty-Niners" to
California faster than going "around the horn". THEY
used Lignum Vitae for railroad ties.
Answer
As Brad and Charlie both guessed, it was Eucalyptus.
Interestingly, the Santa Fe railroad went through the same exercise a few decades later. They also found that the wood was too unstable for building coaches and not durable enough for ties.
