Thread: Railway sleeper

If you could take picture of the wood and post it, some others might be able to help. Also, if you know where the sleepers came from you can find out through local councils if that section of rail was treated or not.

Originally Posted by 4roues

. . . . . . Also, I realize that one piece of timber from the bed has a urine type smell.

It could just be urine. A lot of old sleepers copped more than their fair share of urine in railway stations where people used to go on a stationary train even when they were not supposed to. They used to dump lime on the sleepers to neutralise the urine but I was never convinced on the effectiveness of that.

The only way to be sure would be to get the timber tested by a lab.

Some timbers were untreated, some were treated with creosote, some were treated with other proprietary compounds, some got DDT dumped on them as regular maintenance, not to mention diesel, grease and oil, and of course sleepers in areas where the train needed to slow would get a dusting of asbestos from the brake shoes.

The general opinion seems to be that old sleepers shouldn't be used inside.

As for the smell...some timber species actually smell bad all by themselves, but I believe that cat pee is the one that lingers the most in things.

Might be an idea to go back to the manufactures in the first instance and get their take on the origins and treatment of the wood.

Assuming it's a professionally made (paid for) they must have to take this sort of thing into consideration.

Thanks you very much all for you answers.
I have taken pictures of the bed this morning, but i can't seem to be able to post them on this unless they have a URL. I will be happy to e-mail to you if you can help me.
I will most likely remove the bed unfortunately. If someone can confirm that the bed is made of railway sleepers, this will help me lots.
I bought it from a clearance place (tender disposal) and unfortunately cannot trace the origins of the wood. It was custom made.. I know...my fault...

Please are upload!

It looks like old fence posts to me....could be from anywhere possible a cattle or a sheep yard hence the smell. I agree with MS if you wish to keep it get a lab test done on a section, presuming that it all came from one source.

Originally Posted by 4roues

Hi, I have just bought a beautiful bed . . . . .

Well they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the way that the timber has been left with the marks from and angle grinder and abrasive disc signifies to me that the maker was a tad on the rough and ready side. This also suggest they may not have been too careful about their source of timber either.

If it was a used railway sleeper the holes would probably be square from the dog spike, also the holes would not be in line across the sleeper but rather one either side of the rail.
I hope that all makes sense.

You could always give it a good few coatings of marine epoxy followed by a satin polyurethane. It'll darken the timber, but it should keep any nasties locked away.

Pffft,plop,Ah thats better

Well I am glad to hear it is most likely not from a railway sleeper. However, even if the wood originate from a old fence, it could have been treated with some heady pesticides as well.. I am looking into getting it tested, but I doubt the timber has one and only source by the look of it.. As for the smell, I washed the slab with Decon, will have to wait and see if the smell has gone.
I thought about sealing it, definitely an option.. will see

Dont think its sleepers as the holes are wrong. If its fence timber you would expect a bit more checking. I wonder if its wharf or bridge timber that has been salt water seasoned and hence the smell. Just a thought.

good idea but the smell is very very similar to urine. I grew up by the salt water and really i would much prefer that seasoned smell!! I tough maybe if the timber was stored in a shed it could have been rats urine or something..