LEWISTON, Minn. – Somebody stealing creosoted railroad ties in a pickup truck drove off before deputies could stop him. The ties are ideal for landscaping and expensive at a lumber yard. To a railroad they’re essential for keeping tracks at their precise 4-foot 8-1/2 inch gauge. The ties had been stacked trackside for routine repairs at the Canadian Pacific’s arched stone viaduct on an embankment above Farmers Park. The theft was about 5 p.m. There also had been earlier sightings of the thief making hauls.
