Tie Plate question-size matters

I've seen *much* smaller tie plates, mostly underneath 60-80 pound rail. Interestingly, the older tie plates were not smooth, but instead had "cleats" -- ridges of metal running from one side to the other. I'm guessing that they thought that the tie plates needed to dig into the tie to avoid movement. Instead, the tie plates just dug a hole to china through the tie.

RussNelson wrote:I've seen *much* smaller tie plates, mostly underneath 60-80 pound rail. Interestingly, the older tie plates were not smooth, but instead had "cleats" -- ridges of metal running from one side to the other. I'm guessing that they thought that the tie plates needed to dig into the tie to avoid movement. Instead, the tie plates just dug a hole to china through the tie.

could this be before the days when Creepers were put on both sides of the ties to not only keep them strait but to also keep the tie plates on??