Heat protection from open fire?

Hi,
I ripped out my old fire place and fire back,and made a new open fire. Above this I fitted an old railway sleeper. My problem is when we have a large fire, it heats up the sleeper, and then the old tar and oil start to drip out and smell pretty bad. I was wondering if there is anything I gould fit to the underside of the sleeper to prevent this. I was thinking about something like asbestolux. Would this work, and is it available in black,as white would stand out?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob.

So I assume this was all done under Building Regulations then? Railway sleepers are seriously impregnated with preservative to stop them rotting over a 100 + year life supporting -------- railway lines You start heating them up & sorts of crap is going to start oozing out & god knows what it is cos I don’t

Remove the railway sleeper, get a decent bit of timber as a mantle but, more importantly, get a qualified professional to look at what you’ve installed before you either burn you’re your house down or asphyxiate you & your family! What you’ve done is controlled building work that must be certified, are you aware of the risks your taking.

As for Asbestolux (or anything with asbestos in it), I don’t think that’s been available for many years.

Agree completely , old sleepers are poisonous to pets and humans alike.Even use in the garden should be restricted.

I watched an Antiques propramme the other day, and they had a pair of fireguards, that are apparently made from paper mache....? How they are treated, or how they survived is beyond me, but they were old fireguards. (I remember fireguards in my youth, shows that I'm getting old!)..Paper mache would not be my first choice of fire resistant material..but hey ho. 'Tis true that railway sleepers are full of oil, and bitumin.