Steam & Excursion > When It's Time To Pick Up The Crew This Is How It's Done Here!

In most railroad logging outfits there were crew cars to carry the loggers from camp to the woods each morning and back to camp at night.  These cars usually made the morning trip out of camp along with the empty log cars and back at night with the loads. 

However, that was not possible on the Long-Bell operation out of Keasey because this operation used disconnect trucks rather than flat cars to haul logs.  The disconnects had no air brakes so it was not advisable to add cars of men into the trainset with no brakes.  This necessitated a separate train to be run for just the crew cars to carry them to and fro to the logging site and back.

Jerry Hanson was in the woods above Keasey, Oregon in April 1957 to photograph this former Oregon-American logging railroad in it's final year of operation.  Here he has caught L-B #104 and her short train of crew cars headed back to the woods to retrieve the crew at the end of the day.  Long-Bell inherited the former Oregon Electric interurban coach and box car formerly used by Oregon-American to haul the logging crews.

All in a day of railroad logging when you used disconnect trucks to haul your logs.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/16 03:28 by LoggerHogger.

---

---

Martin, you must have the worlds most famous collection of steam powered trains.  That passenger coach is running on old freight car trucks and looks so funny.  It's amazing what they did years ago.
John

Another of the continuing wonderful daily photo posts with educating stories, many thanks.  But am I wrong to not find the air hose connected to the coach? Hard to see if there are any inside brake shoes in that truck, and looks like an operating brake rod from the piston to the truck but that train may be operating without any brakes also. Were there any other photos to confirm the loaded or empty log bunks were not tailing along?

PlyWoody Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
 Were there any other photos to confirm the
> loaded or empty log bunks were not tailing along?

Yes, the other photos of this set show the 2 crew cars were the only cars in the consist.  Actually, one shot shows the engine and the interurban car by itself, then they picked up the boxcar crew car at another cutting area.

Martin

Thanks, that's interesting.  Only questioned because the air hose off the locomotive seems to be hanging loose so is train without air brakes?

PlyWoody Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks, that's interesting.  Only questioned
> because the air hose off the locomotive seems to
> be hanging loose so is train without air brakes?

I would assume that the crew is relying on setting up the retainers on the 2 crew cars.  They are pretty good at that since they only have the retainers to assist in braking on the loaded disconnect trucks.

Martin

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PlyWoody Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks, that's interesting.  Only questioned
> > because the air hose off the locomotive seems
> to
> > be hanging loose so is train without air
> brakes?
>
> I would assume that the crew is relying on setting
> up the retainers on the 2 crew cars.  They are
> pretty good at that since they only have the
> retainers to assist in braking on the loaded
> disconnect trucks.
>
> Martin

Martin,

If that trainline brake pipe air hose on the rear of the locomotive is not connected to the cars, then there is no air on the cars, thus retainers wouldn't function.

Jack,

"Retainers" for logger like this means the hand brakes.

Martin

---

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jack,
>
> "Retainers" for logger like this means the hand
> brakes.
>
> Martin

Oh well, thanks for the clarification.

Doesn't look like they are worried about the air in this pic. Air hose isn't coupled behind the engine. Matter of fact, looks like the car doesn't have an air line to couple to.

Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/16 08:46 by spnudge.

I would not want the job of Brakeman !
RB

I thought the log bunk car were always secured to the logs with some chains, at least on the lower level of logs, but this photo shows no attachment.  So if a log bunk was hand braked too tight on the tail end of the train, the engine could pull the logs right off a bunk as only the friction of the log on the bunk beam seem to hold it.  How many other photos do you have of dis-connect loaded trains, and do they also show no chains to secure the logs to make it a train?

On the Hoosic Tunnel & Wilmington RR after 1906.log bunk trains came down off the Deerfield River RR to Monroe Bridge, Mass over the common-carrier without any air brakes on the trains.  The hand brakes were set up so that the engine dragged most of the bunks and the logs were all secured to the bunk. The engines power was always needed to move, even on down grades.  Sometimes brakemen ran along the side of the cars adjusting the setting of the hand brake ratchet.

Do the disconnects have a brake wheel on both sides of them?

Disconnect trucks usually only have brake wheels on one side.  When they are assembled in train sets they try get all the brake wheels on the same side for the brakemen as we see in the photo I attached.

As for the question of chains on disconnects you should know that RARELY were logs loads on disconnect truck chained down.  The weight of the logs kept the cars together.  Here is a shot of Crwon Zellerbach #6 and her train of loaded disconnects.  Again, no chains.

Even the long log loads of the Benson Timber Co. did not have chains tying the logs to the disconnects.  Same thing with Georgia Pacific.

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/16 17:05 by LoggerHogger.

---

---

---

I seem to recall the LB 104 and the OE coach body still on the Banks Lumber property in the late '80's, maybe early '90's. Where is the 104 now?
 

Long Bell #104 and her sister engine #105 are at Merrill, Oregon.

Martin

---