# How did the wood get to the train?



## sandbarn (Feb 13, 2010)

I’m building an early (1880-1900) logging operation representing operations of a fictional narrow gauge short-line serving a logging company and transferring goods to/from a standard gauge main-line. I have 2 locos that I’m modifying to represent wood burners (seems like a good choice for a logging operation).
My question is about the wood itself. How did the cut/split wood get from the tree to a point next to the tracks so the train crew/labors could load it into the tender? Also, were different sizes (length and diameter) required for different types of locos (i.e. American, Consolidation, Shay)?
I’m working in Fn3 and will be trying to keep everything at least visually correct to scale if not actually correct.
Lloyd


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Lloyd

It would depend on the time frame and the geographic location, but I believe that the railroads contracted with local farmers along their right-of-way to supply and maintain wood piles at specified locations. This would supplement those locations supplied by the railroad itself.


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## hcampbell (Jan 2, 2008)

Up north, a preferred way was to wait 'til winter and haul it out on sleds. (sledges?) 

Harvey C.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

The wood that went into a firebox had to be dryed for up to a year depending on location otherwise it wouldnt burn well, so for the first year they would have to use wood already stockpiled to dry while the RR was in planning and construction, then it would just come out of the wood stock they were sending to the mill, usually the smaller trees, branches or scrap wood that wasnt marketable. Usually either spli or quartered. It would be set aside to dry or in some cases like the NW US rainforests it would go thru the wood kiln dryer used for the market wood. Eventually almost all logging lines switched to oil, as the scrap wood became valuable to make pulp for paper products, bulk oil was cheaper.


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

In some places there were decks/racks upon which the cut wood would be placed for easier loading by the crews while at others it was just stacked on the ground at a predetermined spot next to the tracks. 

The wood was delivered precut to the railroad's specs both as to size and type by horse & wagon by the individual contractors in the time frame you've indicated.


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## work4fil (Jan 4, 2008)

Back in the day, when I was a logging engineer, we would be on right of way survey, running reconstruction over old logging railroads. We would come accross decks of split bolts that were about four feet long. In addition, we would find an occasional deck of fuel wood, along with other sundry supplies for running a steam engine. The split bolts were redwood and pretty much intact. The fuel wood could most anything. The old sawmills were steam powered "shotgun" mills, deriving their power from both hog fuel and cord wood. Hog fuel was any wood waste that was derived in the wood manufacturing process. 

There was a story in McCloud of a stranger who came into town and found a bunch of Italian immigrants cutting fuel wood. He asked what they were doing and they told him they were cutting cord wood for the sawmill. The stranger asked what a cord was and the cutters showed him. They also told the stranger that they got $4.00 a cord for the wood. The stranger left, only to return a few days later. He told the cutters that a cord was actually half the size they had described to him. This upset the cutters to the point that they took it up with management. Evidently that night, the McCloud River Railroad had to smuggle the sawmill management out of McCloud inside of an empty tank car. Local lore included pictures of the National Guard responding to the "Italian Uprising." A cord is 4x4x8 feet. Cutting a cord by hand without chain saws will make a man out of you. 

Fil


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Interesting story Fil - thanks for posting it!


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## linuxhost (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi All, 
Just because I love to show my ignorance, and that there is some one on the list that actually worked on a real logging line (Fil), may I ask a couple of questions? 
1) What is a “split bolt”? 
2) Beings that the BTU’s of coal is so much greater than most lumber wood, would coal still be preferred (at any cost)? 

Thanks 
Doug


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## work4fil (Jan 4, 2008)

Doug, 

A split bolt was four feet long and used to make shingles from. 30 years ago, I was wokring as a logging engineer in the redwoods. We would come across decks and decks of split bolts south of Eureka and Fortuna, California. I am not sure why they were four feet long, but we were finding decks of these that were over a 100 years old at the time. In Humboldt County, wood was far more plentiful than coal, so it was the preferred fuel for boilers. Later when I moved up into Washington, I was amazed by the coal mines in the Cascade foothills. In fact on my property deed for my house in Enumclaw, the coal rights belonged to the Northern Pacific Railroad. I found that in the old days, Loogers went with whatever was available. There was a time when logs under 54" were left in the woods. So it would appear that wood may have been good enough and the right price. Hope that helps. 

Fil


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## sandbarn (Feb 13, 2010)

All,
Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and insight. I have found a few pictures of 4-4-0s with wood stacked in the tender. The wood itself seems to be about 20 to 24 inches long with a cross section of about 8”. Some of the pictures showed wood stacked up about 5’ above the cab roof. Guess that’ll be enough to hide a battery…
The idea of local farmers/ranchers supplying wood at specific places along the route appeals to me and should make an interesting scene with a farmer driving a loaded buckboard up to a drop-off point.
Thanks again everyone. It’s time for me to start tearing the tender apart.


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## scottemcdonald (Jan 11, 2008)

Here's a link to a photo that may help answer your question. This is from the Carson & Colorado that ran through the Owens Valley in California. 

http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/carson_n_colorado/c_n_c_wood.jpg 

Scott


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## sandbarn (Feb 13, 2010)

Scott, 
Great picture!!! Looks like we've got two or three REAL MEN there (as Fil said above). My goals are some what smaller (single wagon, two horses, maybe 20 to 30 feet of wood stacked). But the picture does show some intresting details. Close proximity to water, very close to the tracks, and a lot of varity in the wood itself. 
Thanks Scott


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

I know this doesn't exactly pertain to your question, but it is neat anyway, and helps explain a narrow gauge railroads mentality.

We have done a lot of research into the Hawaiian Narrow Gauge, which had everything from your 0-4-0 (Ruby Sized Engines) to the large consolidations (K-36 and the like).


Anyway, the engines used in the cane fields were run entirely off of the cut sugar cane, they literally threw it right in while they were cutting it. Their larger engines ran on coal, but I thought the sugar cane was interesting. Also, the sugar mills burnt all the excess sugar cane in boilers, and actually produced more power than they used in making sugar, so they ended up becoming small power plants for the nearby area.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

Posted By ChaoticRambo on 24 Nov 2010 07:37 PM 
...Also, the sugar mills burnt all the excess sugar cane in boilers, and actually produced more power than they used in making sugar, so they ended up becoming small power plants for the nearby area.





i have seen here several sugar mills, working like that.
they press the canes through a set of steel cylinders to extract the liquid, that later is boiled to make sugar.
what they burn in the ovens are the already processed canes.

and i would think, that they used the same "empty" canes for the locos too.

when i was still ranching, i always had some acres of sugar cane to feed the milk cows. if not yet pressed/milled the suger cane is too wet to burn well.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Posted By kormsen on 24 Nov 2010 07:47 PM 
Posted By ChaoticRambo on 24 Nov 2010 07:37 PM 
...Also, the sugar mills burnt all the excess sugar cane in boilers, and actually produced more power than they used in making sugar, so they ended up becoming small power plants for the nearby area.





i have seen here several sugar mills, working like that.
they press the canes through a set of steel cylinders to extract the liquid, that later is boiled to make sugar.
what they burn in the ovens are the already processed canes.


Yup, thats exactly correct - sorry, I realize now I did not make that very clear


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

sorry, i edited, while you answered.


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

Doug

Most grades of coal have a higher BTU per unit weight when compared to wood.

However, there are many parts of the country where there isn't any coal (e.g. Nevada) or else the coal is low quality lignite which tends to crumble with transport and is not suitable for use in a locomoitve firebox.

In either case the cost to transport large volumes of coal to fire locomotives quickly became cost prohibitive when compared to wood, even with the lower BTU content.


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