Steam & Excursion > A Clean Stack As She Drifts Downgrade The End Of A Long Day!

Train crews on the West Side Lumber Co. went on duty long before daylight in the logging season.  Sometimes they were scheduled to board their trains at the Tuolumne, California mill as early as 1:30 am.  This allowed them each to often operate 2 trains daily from town to Camp 21 where they exchanged trains with the log trains from camp.

In this fine view taken in the summer of 1959, we see WSL 3-truck Shay #10 drifting back towards the mill with her second train of the day.  She is just clearing Baker Siding on the outskirts of Tuolumne.  Behind her is a supply boxcar being returned to town for more camp supplies to be returned in the morning and 19 loaded cars of logs.

Soon she will be back in the mill yards where she will drop off her train in the yard throat, run the wye, and then couple back onto the train to pull it down to the brow log for unloading.  Once spotted at the brow log, #10 will uncouple and head the few yards over to the enginehouse where her oil fire will be killed, her stack capped and her crew heading for home.

Thus ends another day on the West Side.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/20 03:44 by LoggerHogger.

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Curious: What kind of fuel in the firebox?

W.

 

She is an oil burner.

Martin

What a classic Sierra scene.  Thanks for posting that. 

We drove through Columbia and Jamestown a couple weeks ago.  Were rushing to get over to Railtown 1897 before it closed for the day.  Pretty quiet over there but we got to look inside the roundhouse and walk around the yard.  Anyway we didn't bother to drive through Tuolumne because the last time I was through there one could scarcely know it had once been a busy logging town and the main facility for a robust narrow gauge railway.  It just made me sad its all been built over and the equipment scattered to the four points of the compass.
 

A beautiful photo of a long lost beautiful place.  Thank you for posting.

Gorgeous picture showing a lot.  Check out the crossbuck!

Stan Praisewater

Great call Stan. Had to go back and check it out.

MWPerkins

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