[Liberty1970]

Does creosote burn well, and does it give off a bad odor? Reason I ask is that I’ve got some leftover rail ties from a gravel drive I just built, and was planning to use them for campfire wood.

[Paladin2]

I dunno, but I suspect that RR ties are impregnated with coal tar creosote and it contains lots of bad(unhealthy) chemicals.

I wouldn't want to breath the smoke (when I was a kid I worked one summer building piers using creosoted piles and timbers. My arms burned for days after getting coated from casual contact during the sunny summer days.)

[21twelve]

Most plants that made those creosote ties are now Superfund sites - just saying.

I’m no enviro nut, but I don’t burn any scraps that have been treated, painted, or glued (plywood, pressed, etc,)

[Ditto]

Reason I ask is that I’ve got some leftover rail ties from a gravel drive I just built, and was planning to use them for campfire wood.

Don't burn them. They will give off some nasty smoke that you don't want to breath.