Shasta Pacific outdoor railroad

[NORCALLOGGER]

Just realized I didn't show the entire boom assembly in the previous pictures.

So here ya go.

[fspg2]

It turned out to be a really great vehicle!

[Bill Gill]

Really nice!

[Stuart]

Nice model with plenty of detail. My only concern would be that the operator of the hoist would need to exercise some caution as to the weight of anything being lifted. Anything too heavy would result in the front end of the vehicle rising off the ground. Perhaps additional weight on the front end would prevent such a hazzard.

Stuart

[NORCALLOGGER]

Stuart, A valid concern for sure.
If you look at the top of the tower, not the boom, those lines that run through the blocks run out and snub off to trees or stumps when set up to load. One out each side and one out the back, well I guess really the front, over the cab anyway.

Having never seen one in operation I can only guess that they were stable enough to satisfy loggers.

[finescalerr]

Well, that turned out adequately, didn't it? A complex model and beyond the ability of many hobbyists, too. Satisfactory. -- Russ

[Stuart]

If you look at the top of the tower, not the boom, those lines that run through the blocks run out and snub off to trees or stumps when set up to load. One out each side and one out the back, well I guess really the front, over the cab anyway.

Ah-ha, thanks for pointing out the additional safety features on you admirable model.  I suppose I should have known that loggers would have been careful to provide sufficient security while manipulating heavy loads.  Keep up the good work.

Stuart

[NORCALLOGGER]

Going through some old files a few days ago I came across this build log from 2013 and thought maybe some of you might be interested in what I was trying to do.

As I remember this project took quite a bit of research and time to develop but I must warn you no 3D printers, Laser cutters, or computer drafting programs were used or abused during this build.

So what is a logging arch?

This is a late 1930's Fairlead tracked arch, the final stage of the development of this type of log yarding in the woods.

I am sure some or even most of you may be unfamiliar with this piece of equipment so a little background or history is in order. You must understand that like all equipment it evolved over many years of trial and error by the men in the woods getting the timber out. Each and all of these systems overlapped each other sometimes by years.

Probably the earliest method of getting logs out of the woods was the use of draft animals to drag the logs along the ground. But, it didn't take long for the old timers to figure out a better way and come up with a thing they called a Skid Road. A skid road was built using small logs half buried in the ground that the timber was dragged along by the animal teams, and the skids were greased as they went along to ease the pull.


An 8 horse hitch dragging a large log along a skid road.

Another early development in the movement of logs was the River Drive. The logs were cut and stored along a river bank during the Summer waiting for the winter floods to send the logs down stream. This method was used mainly in the North Central United States where there were plenty of small rivers, Of course this was only good for the timber that grew close by the rivers. This method was never used much in the Western States because the timber was too large and the rivers too few.


Notice how small the logs are but make no mistake this was a very,very dangerous way to make a living.

Well we have reached the 3 picture limit.
More to come.
Thanks for taking a look
Rick

[finescalerr]

I feel sorry for the horses. I'm sure they would have preferred to do other things. -- Russ

[Barney]

That logging contraption thing looks interesting - nice colure to
Barney
I have several books of the upkeep of horses in the logging and mining industry if the owner was thoughtful and wise they had a good life because they helped the money coming in Just like looking after your Caterpillar it was an investment
Barney   

[NORCALLOGGER]

Another installment.

Worth mentioning here is the development of the Ice Roads for moving logs. This method was popular in the New England states as well as the north central states where the winters were very long and cold with plenty of snow. Again the logs would be cut and cold decked during the Summer and wait for the Winter freeze to set in. Once the temperatures were cold enough and the snow deep enough the snow would be packed solid to create a roadway then sprinkled with water to create the Ice road.
Once the roads were ready the logs would be loaded on large sleds pulled by horse teams to the mill site.


How did they ever pile those logs so high?

I should also mention here the development of the Lombard and Phoenix log haulers for moving the log sleds over the ice roads. The Lombard and/or the Phoenix machines were basically a locomotive boiler mounted on Caterpillar tracks and skies to make it faster and safer to move the log sleds over the ice roads. As it developed they were neither of those things.

Can you imagine riding that steering seat in the front of that contraption with hundreds of tons of machine and logs pushing you from behind down an ice road!


All of the above methods of log movement could take up pages and pages of text and pictures to fully explain but we are more interested in wheels and primarily tracks for this project.

More to come.

[NORCALLOGGER]

The earliest known advancement in log movement from dragging on the ground was the use of the wheel and axle. No telling how far back or where it was first used, I suspect that it probably originated in Europe or somewhere else in the "Old World" and was brought to the "New World" by the migrants. As is the case with most inventions it probably had more than one point of origin.

In the early years of this country on the eastern coast where the logs were of a size that the colonists were used to dealing with they used a setup they commonly called a "bummer" this was basically two wagon wheels and a short, stout axle that one end of the log was set on top of or suspended under, secured and hauled by a draft animal.




The introduction of the "Big Wheels" method of moving logs was recorded as early as the 1840's but patented designs didn't appear until the 1890's. Called "Big Wheels" because of the 10 to 12 foot diameter they were able to handle much larger diameter logs and lift the ends of the logs high off the ground.

Two distinct types of big wheels were developed, the "stiff tongue" and the "slip tongue" both of these styles were pulled by horse teams. By the 1920's when crawler tractors were making major inroads on logging in the woods both styles of big wheels were adapted for use behind the tractors.


The "stiff tongue" wheels were loaded by raising the tongue to a nearly vertical position and attaching the logs to the axel, then the tongue was pulled down raising the logs off the ground. The problem here was, no brakes for the down hill stretches.


The slip tongue was an upgrade from the stiff tongue. Basically the tongue was slid back, the logs attached, and as the team pulled the tongue slid forward lifting the log ends off the ground.  When the team stopped or slowed the tongue would slide back lowering the logs creating a braking effect.

That's all for now.

[finescalerr]

A very informative tutorial on early logging. Thank you. -- Russ

[NORCALLOGGER]

Thanks Russ,
Logging history of the Western United States is a very fascinating  subject, well probably only if you're interested in it.

A little follow up.
That last picture posted is of a set of slip tongue wheels that were built about 1910 by the Redding Iron Works of Redding, CA. they were used in the logging woods of the Northern Sierra's and Southern Cascade's until 1939 when they were sold to a private party. A Mr. Abbott who bought the wheels along with other equipment opened a trading post and cafe along highway 44 in Northern California, put the wheels on display out front and named the business Big Wheels.
Those wheels sat out front for nearly 70 years until a new owner had them restored to new condition in 2008, that is the wheels you see in the above picture with the horse.

As a high school kid I worked on ranches in that vicinity and often ate at that cafe. I have several pictures of the wheels and the old Best steam tractor and other equipment that sat on display around the outside.

The Big Wheels trading post shortly after it opened in 1939.


We might as well finish up with the "wheels" while were here.


The final stage of the "Big Wheels" development was the adaptation to the crawler tractor.


This closes the Big Wheels section of this brief history. As said above it would take pages and pages of text and pictures to tell the whole story of the Big wheels in the woods.

Now for the next generation of log skidding equipment in the woods, the steel arches.

Thanks for following along.

 

[PeterH]

I feel sorry for the horses. I'm sure they would have preferred to do other things. -- Russ

... the same for the blokes on the logs