Steam & Excursion > This Noted Photographer Had A Great View Of His Home Porch!

Was it by chance or did H.L.Arey specifically choose this house at Timber, Oregon because of this view off it's front porch? We may never know the actual answer, but we do know that he made the most of that view during his time there.

Arey was assigned to helper service as an engineer for the Southern Pacific out of Timber on the SP Tillamook Branch for over 20 years. During this time he took his camera to work and recorded some of the best railroad views ever taken of steam railroading in Oregon. He often had to go no farther than his front porch to capture some of these timeless treasures.

Here, in about 1926, Arey has set up his camera on his front porch to capture SP #2947 being serviced at the Timber roundhouse just down the hill from his home. His view is looking West towards the Oregon Coast Range that was the reason that Timber was built as a helper station in the first place.

All too soon it will be time for Arey to put his camera away and to grab his gear and walk down the worn path we see in the foreground. There he will climb upon one of the waiting steam locomotives and his long day of helper service will start again.

We can all be thankful that he often thought to take his camera along for the trip.


Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/17 03:07 by LoggerHogger.

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Fascinating back story to go with an exceptional photo. There is so much detail to consider as I look at the image.
Bob

Not much time wasted getting to work.

There's also a nice article on the Arey's in the current issue of SPH&TS's "S.P. Trainline" magazine. This photo is one of many fine images in the article.

Really neat small engine terminal. Just begging to be modeled.

What a desolate landscape. Logging had a price.

Trees grow back and the fact that trees are cut down doesn't equate to devastation. The issue of forest management, wildfires, carbon emissions from wildfires, and watershed health in general (today) are vastly improved from earlier logging practices, but I have taken folks into the woods where about 100 years ago, the area was cut over and many mistake the current high stem density forests as being healthy. In fact they aren't and most of the west including Alaska are suffering from decades - not from too much logging - but too little in the way of fuel thinning, and meadow restoration work.

Lack of logging has it's price too.

Missing from this discussion is an appreciation of the vast differences between old growth forests, and the chaotic regrowth of secondary growth, and latter, forests.
It's too late now for old growth, which is just about all gone. I think a better way would have been to establish tree farms, and live with what they can produce, as opposed to the slaughter of old growth forests all over our once pristine planet.

Another great and historic image. As with so many members here, I make TO one of my daily blessings because of the effort folks make to get their, or the collections of others, collection shared with us. My thanks to all who make TO such a great place to visit.


AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

It all looks so desolate. I worked in Yellowstone NP when the Blister Rust Beetle was a scourge. Is it possible they account for the tree conditions in this photo?

sixbit Wrote:
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> Trees grow back and the fact that trees are cut
> down doesn't equate to devastation. The issue of
> forest management, wildfires, carbon emissions
> from wildfires, and watershed health in general
> (today) are vastly improved from earlier logging
> practices, but I have taken folks into the woods
> where about 100 years ago, the area was cut over
> and many mistake the current high stem density
> forests as being healthy. In fact they aren't and
> most of the west including Alaska are suffering
> from decades - not from too much logging - but too
> little in the way of fuel thinning, and meadow
> restoration work.
>
> Lack of logging has it's price too.

Agree with the thinning part. But, clear cutting, as in this picture, is not good. It leaves the ground exposed to erosion. Also, when the forest eventually grow back, all of the trees are of the same age. This is also not healthy because some wildlife and insects need trees of various ages to help keep the forest healthy.

Much in here about old outdated forestry practices and "clear cutting" etc. Clear cutting, like it or not, is the only way to "harvest" second growth timber economically today. Reforestation practices today are different than they were 40 or 80 years ago. In the south, Long Leaf and Short Leaf Pine hybrids now grow to maturity in 30-40 years, and current practice by some loggers is to thin the stand after 10-15 for pulpwood, 20-25 for chipboard, and 35-40 for lumber, then start over. Proper tree spacing makes this now possible without clear cutting except at the end. One of the companies that I am involved with, plants 3 million trees per year and harvests the same amount of old second growth. Others plant probably twice as many. Yes, nothing looks great immediately after harvesting, but in a very short span of 3-5 years the new growth looks luxuriant.

Personally, I like his commute. I wish that I could do the same.