Hi all,
Currently, my model railroad is in On30 scale, modelling a logging railroad in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, my eye has been caught by models in On18 scale - O scale models running on N gauge track. I'd like to incorporate them into my layout, with a small expansion, and I think I've figured out how.
At the moment, the On30 railroad 'terminates' at one end of the logging pond. I had originally concieved it with the actual lumber mill being up the other end of the log pond - i.e. off to the left end of the layout, and unseen. Now, what I'm thinking of doing is having an On18 tramway connecting the On30 layout with the mill proper. Essentially, this would be an On18 shunting layout, revolving around the sawmill, with a siding that interchanges with the On30 trains.
To this end, the question I have to ask is, would a large sawmill operation have it's own narrow gauge (18") tramway to move supplies, products, etc. around the sawmill?
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Yes, it could. They typically would be at the finished products stage, where cut lumber is taken to be dried or stacked, then moved to the outbound shipments dock, whether onward by rail, boat, or truck.
These were eventually superseded by straddle carriers, so becoming extinct circa WWII, after which forklifts became a big part of the mix for handling cut lumber.
I have seen pics, may have them, will search...
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Transloading things to the smaller gauge would be labor and time intensive. If the line serving the mill (30" gauge in this case) were extended just a bit, then all those supplies would be delivered right to the door.
I am more familiar with eastern logging, but have numerous books on West Coast logging in my library. It is not uncommon for a sawmill to have a very narrow gauge tramway to move the freshly sawn lumber to the kiln, planing mill, or to the storage lot. Most of the time, that involved human-powered push carts and that track was usually on an elevated trestle of sorts to match the main floor height of the sawing floor. I have seen a couple photos with mules assisting with those small carts, but it is usually a pushcart on very light track with kick turnouts. I don't recall seeing tiny steam or internal combustion "power" on those tramways, but very small internal combustion pullers would be possible.
I built a tramway in HO to serve my sawmill built from a Keystone Locomotive Works kit. Photos of that should surface if one searches this site for "sawmill tramway".
Oh, one of the other things that may have to be moved is sawdust from the mill to the boilers to power the mill. Most of the time, that was accomplished with augers or a "blown" system, but a light tramway could do that work.
Bill
So, instead of having the On18 tramway bringing supplies to the On30 line, it would be more realistic to have the On30 line meet the standard gauge interchange at the interchange track.
Based on the feedback I've got here, I think I've worked it out. The expansion will be the sawmill itself. I'll extend the On30 line onto the extension, just a single spur for transloading between the standard gauge and narrow gauge. The sawmill complex itself will have an On18 tramway, for moving supplies, cut lumber and sawdust around the mill.
...OK, found the one big op I was thinking of, the Pinedale mill on the Minarets & Western. The site was 140 acres, which doesn't sound like much would be needed, but the place had some 50 miles of tramway on which 7-ton battery operated locos operated.
Of course the place ended up being an economic failure with the onset of the Great Depression.
I'll try to dig up some pics...
Not much luck on that one specifically. Here's a pic of a BTS kit of one, which is BTW available in O scale.
http://www.btsrr.com/bts8250.htm
Hazy pics in this one if you page dpwn:
https://books.google.com/books?id=8-EoAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=lumber+mill+kiln+tramways&source=bl&ots=drmAbCU9Du&sig=jQRLxNLlpNb32oxKwgtQqHWiJiM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK65ukvsnPAhWj5IMKHXo6CEUQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=lumber%20mill%20kiln%20tramways&f=false
Some more insight, as I think the practice of drying in kilns accounted for a lot of this, as it helped avoid excess handling of the goods. Stack on a car, roll into the kiln, then out into the yard where it would be stacked for final drying/sorting/shipment.
https://books.google.com/books?id=DOIwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA80-IA75&lpg=PA80-IA75&dq=lumber+mill+kiln+tramways&source=bl&ots=9_e_A05yLD&sig=vpXacpR-OHtcGy35UUz19Q9ASOc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK65ukvsnPAhWj5IMKHXo6CEUQ6AEIJjAC#v=onepage&q=lumber%20mill%20kiln%20tramways&f=false
EDIT: Another book to check out is Pino Grande by R.S. Polkinghorn on the Michagan-California Lumber Co. Since it was a 3' line, they used a different approach that might work with tbdanny's outfit. There wasn't a separate gauge for the tramway, the just used tramway cars that were 3' from the looks of things.
For the Pinedale operation, there's a kupla shots with the tramway in Hank Johnston's "Rails to the Minarets".
On page 55 is a nice detail shot of the tracks and the drying stacks. Featured are point-switches (as opposed to stub) and 90 degree crossings. Below it is an aerial shot that shows the overall layout. The drying racks are in the top right. The tracks in the bottom half are standard gage.
On page 18 is the main sawmill. There are some tramway tracks showing there.
"Seven-ton, battery-powered electric locomotives pulled 750 lumber cars through the yards on 50 miles of 20-pound track."
Madera & Western/Sugar Pine Lumber was a spare-no-expense operation.
Here's an on-line sourced shot with the tramway:
The track layout looks different than in the photo in the Johnston book. THAT one has double track between the piles. I suspect the photo in the book was later. Maybe.
Here's another:
The setup in the two photos here has to me the look of a handpowered operation.
The mill was in operation from July 1923 until November 1931. It was located in Pinedale, CA.
Ed
Ed,
Thanks for the pics, as I didn't have much luck in my time available today.
With 50 miles of track, I'm sure the surface has barely been scratched in terms of different scenes among those canyons of lumber.
Thanks for the feedback and links. They've been interesting reading, and very inspirational.
Back when I was a Boy Scout the Troop got to tour a rather modest size sawmill in New York State. The tramway was in the 15-18 inch gauge range, hand powered on wooden 4x4 rails. Cars were simple 4-wheel platforms that had hooks at each end, but none were chained or otherwise coupled.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I pulled up one of those images of my HO tramway at the planing mill end. The area has since received groundcover/scenicing.