California redwood logging in the 40's

[Terry Toenges]

This is a cool video. It's a documentary about logging in CA. in the 1940's.
The train footage starts at about 4:50 into it and goes to about 6:40.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f_FjfIQQfo

[Trainman203]

Some of those log cars were rolled downhill by gravity it appears.  The engines are too distant and too quickly out of the scene to ID.

To me, a model logging railroad operation/wise is about the most boring thing you could have, along with a coal road.  One commodity traveling one way, that's all there is.  Logging railroads, however, often had very cool home built equipment though, which attracts scratch builders and superdetailers.

[WoundedBear]

  One commodity traveling one way, that's all there is. 

You need to educate yourself a bit more, if that's what you think.

Do you know how they turned long equipment on a switch instead of a wye? Do you know about the swiveling trucks underneath these long loads? That's just one example of what you are missing from an operational standpoint. Camp cars, box cars of supplies, crane cars........cable loads. It didn't all appear in the bush like magic. Crews need to be moved as well as mail. Empties need to be dispatched back to the point of origin also.

Don't be so quick to dismiss a whole branch of modelling.


Sid

[Trainman203]

I'm ready to learn. Even though we had a lot of logging roads down here in the piney woods and the cypress swamps, they  were long gone by the 30s pretty much.  The South of the US was clear cut out by the mid 20's.  Mississippi looked more like Oklahoma until the trees finally began to grow back.  No conservation back then.  Erosion was a real problem afterwards for a pretty long time.. 

You seem to describe pretty big operations almost like a common carrier. Most of the one I've heard of down here were not nearly as involved.   Of course on bigger ones theres crew movements, work extras, but mail?  Never have heard of that on logging roads before.How did they do that? How do you turn equipment on a switch ?  Not sure what that means.  Not having a wye makes sense though, no room in hilly woods for one.

Do logging modelers turn the trucks when operating?  I've never heard operations on these roads described?   There's a lot of logging roads in the magazines but to me up to now they seemed to be the province of grade A plus proto modelers who focusesd on the very cool stuff on those pikes.

Tell more, my interest is up.

[Trainman203]

I can't stop thinking about turning equipment on a switch.  Would you do  that by pushing leading end A onto the straight track, carefully push end B onto the diverging track, then pull end A out again?  That would only work on a pretty long car and one whose trucks could very freely turn 180 Degrees, I would think.

[WoundedBear]

You seem to have missed the part where I said "educate yourself"

I have no desire to become your tutor. I spent countless hours reading and researching and stumbled across some incredible things as I did.

I suggest you do the same if your interest is so piqued.

Sid

[WoundedBear]

I can't stop thinking about turning equipment on a switch.  Would you do  that by pushing leading end A onto the straight track, carefully push end B onto the diverging track, then pull end A out again?  That would only work on a pretty long car and one whose trucks could very freely turn 180 Degrees, I would think.

You caught onto that one pretty quickly

Sid

[Terry Toenges]

I never thought of turning one like that. 

[WoundedBear]

As my ursine cousin Yogi would say.......

"I'm smarter than your average bear"



Sid

[Trainman203]

Not asking for intense tutoring Sid.  No prob, no more questions.  The answers probably wouldn't translate well to lumber operations in my region anyway.