Norfolk Southern Railway has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alabama against Boatright Railroad Products Inc., an Alabama company that produced its rail ties. Norfolk Southern Railway claims that Boatright Railroad has failed to use proper protective coating on more than 4.7 million of its rai ties, that are now degrading faster than expected and that Norfolk Southern has to replace.
Instead of using materials that preserve the wood, Boatright Railroad Products Inc. ordered workers to “make them black by whatever means necessary” so they appeared to be properly treated but were not, Norfolk Southern maintains in the suit. Motor oil, anti-freeze, paint and other substances which would not effectively preserve the wood were used on the ties instead of creosote, the chemical which should have been used, the company alleges. Boatright Railroad also provided misleading samples to a consultant for the rail who was checking on the quality of its work, the lawsuit alleges.
From 2009 to 2014, Boatright provided Norfolk Southern with nearly 5 million rail ties, and virtually all of them were installed in the rail’s network, the lawsuit said.
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