I haven't seen much of Sennett's stable, but was reading a book about him last night that mentioned this movie. Is this one the seed (as it were) of the classic bit of the mustachioed villain who ties the hapless maiden to the railroad tracks, or were there other like films with this premise?
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That is correct sort of. In this film the villain had a mustache and wore a bowler type hat. You can watch it here on Archive.org:
http://archive.org/details/BarneyOldfieldsRaceForALife1913_18
There was a similar scene in another Keystone comedy called Teddy at the Throttle. That one had the villain wearing a top hat and a tux.
A similar scene also occurred in The Broken Circuit (episode 10 of The Hazards of Helen series).
Although the tied to train tracks routine has become associated with the 1914 serial "The Perils of Pauline", no scene like that was in that one. There was a scene in the silent serial "Lass of the Lumberlands" where the male hero was tied or chained up on train tracks - he was rescued by the female heroine.
The tied to train tracks routine could have been used in many other silent films, which no longer survive.