There's a guy at the B&O Railroad museum in Baltimore who does wood work on equipment from that time period. In fact, he's restoring the wood work on a civil war railroad crane at this time. Sorry I don't remember his name, but I was just there a few weeks ago talking to him. If you contact the B&O Railroad Museun and ask, I'm sure they can connect you to the person I'm talking about. He will be able to answer your question. Good Luck.
Dave,
I read somewhere that they used mostly hardwoods when they could and avoided pine and other trees like them because of the high sap and turpentine content in the woods. I think it also said something about using approx 2' sticks due to the clearances in the cabs and tenders. Wish I could remember the source so we both could verify it!
Roger
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