Nostalgia & History > Weyerhaeuser Company's Springfield Railroad - 1964

In the spring of 1984, Kramer Adams (author of “Logging Railroads of the West”) arranged for me to ride Weyerhaeuser Company’s railroad in Springfield, Oregon. Being a dumb teenager, I thought there was no reason to keep notes because of course I would always remember the details of the trip. Needless to say, I did not do a very good job of photographing the ride and a very poor job of remembering its details. The following descriptions are in chronological order and they are the best I could do with a foggy memory. I would appreciate any suggestions/corrections that TO members can provide.

Photo #1, the day starts very early as I travel in the cab of Weyerhaeuser Company’s GE 70-ton #105 to the reload with empty log cars
Photo #2, finally into the woods as I enjoy the trip to the reload
Photo #3, train stopped near the loaded log cars to drop off a brakeman
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/21 03:15 by GYModeller.

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Photo #4, train then backed down to the switch and proceeded on the left track to push the occupied caboose and empty log cars to the reload
Photo #5, unloading the logs from an “off-road” logging truck
Photo #6, transferring the logs to a log car
 

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Photo #7, the log transfer machine mounted on railroad trucks beside a crew bus
Photo #8, loading Lorain log loader #531 onto steel deck moving car #156 or #158
Photo #9, second log loader already loaded on a second steel deck moving car
 

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Photo #10, GE 70-ton #105 and #104 switching both steel deck moving cars carrying the log loaders
Photo #11, GE 70-ton #105 (next to caboose) and #104 being refueled at the reload
Photo #12, GE 70-ton #105 and #104 switching the steel deck moving cars with log loaders at the Springfield plant
 

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Photo #13, GE 70-ton #105 and #104 moving empty log cars at the Springfield log pond

David Hann

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Awesome! A rare glimpse at what it was like at Weyerhaeuser...thank you for sharing. Man...look at all those old steam shovels and cranes...

Posted from iPhone

These photos give a rare perspective on a modern logging railroad. Well done.
Bob

You really managed to capture the essence of the heavy logging operations of that era.  Wonderful post!

I worked as a "choker setter" in Oregon 1962 for about four months during my early twenties during a break from my studies.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Great photos, lots to see. Kinda surprising seeing the older tracked equipment even in those years. The rail mounted unloader is a hoot, there's a few descriptions about it in past TO posts. Must have worked just fine.

Amazing how Weyerhaeuser just stepped out of the whole business.
t4p.

+ two years are in the original post, 1964 that's state of the art equipment, 1984...not so much. Regardless, really interesting seeing the log dump and along the line action.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/21 17:11 by TCnR.

I googled to see what state it was in. Have mercy on those of us from the east who don't know the west. 

ctillnc Wrote:
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> I googled to see what state it was in. Have mercy
> on those of us from the east who don't know the
> west. 

You'll also find that the branch had different names, the Springfield Branch, at one time somehow called the Wendling Branch and also the Marcola branch... but still in Oregon. There's also some interesting info on TrainWeb dot com although their Search engine is completely useless. Usually there's links or info from this website:
http://www.trainweb.org/highdesertrails/  who is also a TO poster.

There's some more info and photos on this post:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5168707,5168707#5168707
Date: 01/02/21 15:24
70 Ton Saturday - Marcola Oregon

Wow these are great, I've never seen any in cab shots along this line. I'd say they're about as rare as hens teeth!

Sorry for that oversight! I have added Oregon to the text.

Great series.I think you did real good for a teenage kid.Thanks for sharing.Bill Webb