Railroad sues over millions of rail ties it calls defective

FILE – In this Feb. 16, 2017 file photo, a Norfolk Southern coal train runs through Kermit, WV. Norfolk Southern Railway must replace millions of defective wooden railroad ties on its tracks because they’re degrading faster than expected, the company said in a federal lawsuit filed in October 2017 in U.S. District Court in Alabama. Norfolk Southern Railway blames an Alabama company that produced its railroad ties of failing to use proper protective coating on more than 4.7 million of them. (AP Photo/Michael Virtanen, File)