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TieHack.Org:

The Official Website of

Historic Railroad Logging

Railroads played a key role in the development of the United States, particularly west of the Mississippi. The construction and maintenance of these railroads required millions of railroad cross ties, and thousands of loggers to cut them. Tie hacks (also known as tie cutters, tie men, tie hewers) were rugged individuals who made their hard-earned living in the forests chopping and sawing trees into railroad ties. This little known and understood occupation is explored in this website.


	What is Tie Hacking? Tie hacking is a type of logging where trees were cut into railroad ties using a cross saw and broad axe. Tie hacks hand-hewed hundreds of thousands of railroad ties from our public forests each year.

Wyoming Students Investigate Tie Hack Historic Sites

Students from Tongue River Elementary and Middle Schools in Ranchester Wyoming headed up into the Big Horn Mountains for an historical adventure this summer. The Tongue River Adventure Club went looking for the old tie flume used to transport railroad ties out of the mountains to help construct the railroad being constructed to nearby Sheridan. The flume was in use in 1893 when the railroad was completed, and Tongue River students reported that they found remnants of the flume during their field trip in July, 2009. In addition to the flume, a log cabin was found near the flume by the students.

For additional information, check with Sheridan Media which first reported this story.

Some of the Volunteers and Archaeologists working at the Stuck Creek splash dam site

Old Roach Tie Hack Survey Completes the 2010 Field Season

Archaeologists and volunteers from the Roosevelt National Forest have completed the fifth and final field season recording the archaeology sites at Old Roach, Colorado and vicinity. Old Roach is the former company town of the Otto Lumber Company, a lumber company specializing in railroad ties. This project was begun as a Passport in Time (PIT) program, an archaeology and historical preservation program of the National Forest Service. This project has documented the ghost town of Old Roach (which was occupied in the 1920's and 1930's) and has documented and other satellite camps. In addition, the remains of an old flume and splash dam used in the spring tie drives have also been recorded.

For more details about Old Roach, click on the Old Roach PIT Project tab above.

Wyoming Museum Offer Tie Hack History Tours

Tie Hacking was a major industry in the forests around Dubois, Wyoming in the first half of the twentieth century. Many historical sites related to tie hacking remain in the Wind River area including tie hack cabins, dam remnants, and several remains of flumes. The museum in town has a Tie Hack Gallery (picture below) wA historian from the Dubois Museum and Wind River Historical Center offers custom tours to these and other sites of historical interest.

For details, contact the Dubois Museum & Wind River Historical Center.