Used Tropical 'Almost New' or 'Young' Top Grade hardwood railway sleepers

Overview

Grade: 'Almost New' or 'Young' Top Grade tropical hardwood railway sleepers are the best in our collection. Very long lasting hardwood railway sleepers in excellent condition for all landscaping projects and general purposes. Generally square and straight edged, although years of unrelenting British weather may have naturally started to wear away some of the edges and exposed faces. See pictures above. 
Colour: Various shades of light, medium brown on the outside. Various stunning shades of red, pink or yellow on the inside, when cut or planed. See the pictures above for examples of freshly cut railway sleeper ends.
Weight: Can be heavy to lift, especially the 2.6m x 300mm x 125mm size sleepers which can weigh as much as 100 kilos. Bear this in mind when you are ordering your particular size of railway sleeper. How do I plan to carry the railway sleepers into position? (e.g. the back of a garden). You'll need at least two willing and strong people, and the serious possibility of bribery: (Bottles of wine), deception: ("They are really light") or emotional blackmail: "Think of all the things I've done for you". Of course this last option may lead to your offspring grumpily replying with "I never asked to be born!", which tends to lead to a collapse in communication, rather than an enthusiastic helper. How to Lift Railway Sleepers
IMPORTANT- If you can't safely and sensibly lift 100 kilos you'll need at least a forklift machine or furloughed Olympic weightlifters. The most successful 2019 World Championship medal winners (in order) were from China, North Korea, Armenia, United States and Belarus. Try searching in your local Ad-Mag or on Google. 
Treatment: Untreated. These hardwood railway sleepers were originally installed on the railways without any form of treatment, as they were such a dense tight grained timber, so they are perfect for long lasting and people friendly projects, where creosote is not advisable.
Description: These 'Almost New' or 'Young' top grade reclaimed tropical hardwood railway sleepers are probably between 10 - 20 years old, depending on which section of railway they came from in Britain. This makes them absolute youngsters regarding their expected lifespan on the railway of up to 100 years. They are durable, tight-grained tropical hardwoods with excellent longevity. They are the best grade used tropical hardwood railway sleepers available which can be re-laid on a railway track, if you have secret dreams of opening a new line in your back garden, and becoming an engine driver.
Cutting: Quite hard. You'll need a circular saw / chainsaw / powered saw to cut these railway sleepers. Start off with a new or sharpened blade, and be prepared to re-sharpen. Occasionally people try by handsaw, but you have to be very determined, masochistic or fit. As with any project, it makes sense to try and limit the amount of cuts you need to do. Try and plan a design that fits with the size of our railway sleepers! See Railway Sleeper Cutting. 
Attaching / Fixing: Timberlok Screws will probably not screw through these tropical hardwood railway sleepers without a pilot hole, even if the drill is powerful, so we recommend first pre-drilling these railway sleepers with a 6mm pilot hole, otherwise the screws may get stuck or snap. Drill into the railway sleeper about a cm at a time, and then withdraw the wood drill, so as to clear the wood shavings from the hole, and then drill a bit further.  If you don't do this, the drill may overheat, smoke, and eventually bend, snap or go blunt. See Fixing railway sleepers together.
Sizes: IMPORTANT. All sizes are approximate. That means that although a railway sleeper may be described as approximately 2600mm in length, or 300mm in depth, or 125mm in width it may in fact be several centimetres (or inches) longer or shorter. As it happens, most landscaping projects have an element of flexibility or tolerance in them and can cope with this. If your project needs exact accuracy in length, width or depth, then you may need to cut the railway sleeper to your precise specifications yourself, or think of using a different size or type of railway sleeper.

Our Comment
Exceptional, 'almost new', top quality, long lasting tropical hardwood railway sleepers suitable for outside landscaping, steps, raised beds, decking, aquatics etc.. as well as internal furniture, lintels, woodturning etc.. Indeed, any project where you want massively durable reclaimed railway sleepers without any creosote complications. Serious weight, so plan for strong help ! Extremely long lasting, and beautiful if you cut or plane it, exposing various gorgeous shades of pink, red or yellow. Alternatively just enjoy the natural years of reddy brown weathering!

PROJECT INSPIRATION! 
You may know exactly what you are going to build with your railway sleepers. The great wall of China. The Taj Mahal. A perfect plan written in stone after hours of sleepless nights and youtube visits. However you may be more uncertain and in need of moral and practical support, especially if your nearest and dearest is sowing seeds of doubt, as they question your undeniable abilities to landscape the garden. In this case you need inspiration. A boost to your self esteem that will replace uncertainty with optimism. A visit to our projects section! Thousands of projects and photos that will fill you with confidence and excitement, and cement the guaranteed adoration of your once doubting loved one as you triumphantly complete your railway sleeper masterpiece. VISIT NOW!!

Important information about your used railway sleepers
Reclaimed railway sleepers have been practically used for many decades out in the open to support train tracks. Naturally, they have been weathered by the wind, rain, sun and snow, and also can have residues of grime, dirt, or oil  from the trains that have passed or stopped over them. This is simply the obvious consequence of using authentic and historical railway sleepers. Having spent a few years on a railway track, they may also have the rustic signs of cracks, loose bits, and 'character'. Most landscapers install them in the garden, and simply allow the rain and snow to clean them up. Others may choose to jet wash them, especially if they want to sit on them. If you visit our projects pages, you will see thousands of landscaping projects that have used reclaimed railway sleepers, recently taken from the railways.

Historically, railway sleepers never had to be exact in length or width for their purpose on the railway track, and so the sawmills were fairly ‘give or take’ in the timbers they produced. Hence all sizes were approximate. That means that although a railway sleeper may be described as approximately 2600mm in length, or 300mm in width, or 125mm in depth it may in fact be several centimetres (or inches) longer or shorter, thicker or thinner. As it happens, most landscaping projects have an element of flexibility or tolerance in them and can cope with this. However if a specific project needs exact accuracy in length, width or depth then a landscaper may need to either cut the railway sleeper to their precise specifications, or think of using a different size or type of railway sleeper that is more accurate, e.g. the new pine ones.

What are the different grades of railway sleepers?
GRADING RAILWAY SLEEPERS IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE !
Deciding with certainty what is 'Almost new', Top grade, Grade 1, Grade 2 or even Grade 3 is inevitably subjective, and there is no universally accepted system of grading, throughout the UK, Europe, or the rest of the Galaxy. There are so many variables to consider in grading old reclaimed railway sleepers, especially between different types of hardwood and softwood, that it is hard to generalise or make universal statements about the different grades of railway sleepers. For example, a Grade 2 used British Pine railway sleeper is still generally straight, whereas a Grade 2 used Dutch oak railway sleeper is often slightly bent! If you were being cynical, you'd probably suspect that railway sleeper companies classify a railway sleeper with as high a grade as they can get away with! But of course, that would be slanderous! Always look at our railway sleeper photos, if you are unsure of what to expect, or simply give us a ring. It is best to be clear about what you may be getting, rather than choosing something that doesn't fit into your grand design.

'Almost New' or 'Young' Top grade railway sleepers
These are the absolute best in our collection of reclaimed railway sleepers, that are even good enough to be re-used or re-laid on a railway track. They are exceptionally durable and will last for decades.
Top Grade railway sleepers
These are really good condition railway sleepers. But still remember that they are old weathered timbers that are 30 - 40 year old and unrecognisable from the new piece of timber they started life as. They will last for years, but they are certainly not pristine!
Grade 1 railway sleepers
Reasonable condition middle grade railway sleepers. Generally pretty straight with some cracks and defects, but despite being weathered and 40 - 60 years old, they are in a fairly solid state. Suitable for most landscaping purposes, despite them being retired from their hectic life on a railway track.
Grade 2 railway sleepers
Lower condition railway sleepers, with many more imperfections and irregularities. They are often older and more weathered rustic versions of Grade 1. They may have more rounded waney edges, cracks in the ends, slight decay, occasional damage and in the case of some hardwoods, can be bowed along the length, especially in the case of the Grade 2-3 Dutch oak railway sleepers. 
Grade 3 railway sleepers
Lowest grade railway sleepers, that may not be suitable for all landscaping purposes. They are most likely to be more irregular, weathered, battered, cracked, damaged, bowed and with some decay etc.... but not necessarily all at the same time! Despite all this, they may still last for ages, with some people particularly liking their battered and world weary appearance.

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