Salvaged Japanese Railroad Ties
We found these pieces of lumber on Craig’s List and after we milled them, we wished we had bought the whole lot. They were listed as Mahogany, When we got to Sebastopol to pick them up, the owner said they were reclaimed Japanese Railroad ties. Some of the material may be Mahogany, but there is also at least 5 different hardwoods as well. We were told that they were saved from the landfill in Japan and sent over here in a shipping container. The ends are stamped, but we have been unable to find any more information on them, or find any more of them, sadly…
We were able to get enough of the material to include in three projects, two benches and frame panels for a bathroom vanity. We milled the material in our shop in Alameda. We got the pieces specifically to make a curved bench surrounding a fire pit for a project in Bernal Heights. The bench is built into a custom cast concrete retaining wall with a dark concrete stain, and the lustrous colors of the wood perfectly complements the dark concrete and filtered light.
We also made a straight slatted bench built into another retaining wall using the same material. The retaining wall was made with reclaimed Douglass Fir timbers with reclaimed steel plate sides. The colorful slats are on the opposite side of the landscape from the fire pit, and help to tie the design together.
We hade enough material left to make panels to frame a vanity for a Bathroom remodel project. We are thrilled to work with Heidi Mortensen Design, providing custom fabrication for some of her projects.
