Steam & Excursion > Some Steam Engines Were Called On To Move Entire Towns!

While most steam locomotives toiled on a daily basis to move passengers or freight trains for their owner, some were called on occasionally for an even more personal and important task.

In the logging industry of the Pacific Northwest many of the larger operation used extensive systems of logging railroads to bring the timber harvest to the waiting mills.  As the cutting areas moved farther and farther from the mill sites the logging company had to build logging camps for their workers near the cutting ares.  This required the use of portable camp cars and camp houses for the loggers and their families.

In the 1930's the Shevlin-Hixon Company of Bend, Oregon consolidated it's several logging camps into one that became the traveling town of Shevlin.  The town had over 700 occupants and boasted a post office, church car, tavern car and full commissary.

Every couple of years the Town of Shevlin had to be relocated.  That is where the company railroad came in.  Here we see Shevlin-Hixon Baldwin 2-8-2 #2 waiting for one of the towns camp houses to be loaded on a log car for movement to the next site.  The date is June 1947 and the Town of Shevlin is moving from it's location on Fremont Summit to it's new home near Chemult, Oregon.  The cabins porch awning has been folded down and the porch itself folded up to facilitate the periodic move this building would make over it's lifetime.

In just 2 days the entire came was moved by rail to it's new home in the woods.  All the furnishings and possessions of the loggers and their family were entrusted to the railroad crews to make this most important move.  Those crews took pride in making each move without breaking so much as a piece of china.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/17 04:12 by LoggerHogger.

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What was the longest distance that the town ever moved?

elueck Wrote:
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> What was the longest distance that the town ever
> moved?

Actually this move was probably the longest.   The move from Fremont Summit to Chemult was just over 60 miles in distance.

Martin

One legged logger? Or am I seeing something wrong.

up833 Wrote:
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> One legged logger? Or am I seeing something
> wrong.

No, you see that correctly. He was the camp boss.

Martin