Tag Archives: Logging

History

Railroad Logging Video

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Camp B. Courtesy of Fruit Growers Supply Company

Recently, a subscriber sent me a link to a You Tube video with various historic film clips of railroad logging. For those so inclined you can watch it here. However, it should be duly noted for the record,  the clip of the cookhouse scene of Fruit Growers Supply Company is wrong. The film notes that it was Fruit Growers operation at Hilt, but in reality it was Fruit Growers Lassen Operation at Camp B, located north of McCoy Flat Reservoir. The cement foundation of the building was still intact the last time I was there, along with railroad service pits, etc. I do have a copy of the 1925 film of the entire operations on the Lassen that includes logging scenes, and the entire sawmill process. The opening scenes are of interest since it shows the current Susanville Ranch Park back in 1919, then goes to Eagle Lake during its high water era.

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Fruit Grower’s Logging, 1925

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horse logging
Horse logging with big wheels, at Fruit Growers Camp B, north of McCoy Flat Reservoir.

In the spring of 1925, Fruit Growers Supply Company announced a major change in their logging operations. In April, the company sold some seventy logging horses, thus a major phase out utilizing horses and Michigan Big Wheels. The company replaced the horses with six Catepillar tractors, after having two in operation the previous year. The tractors were more efficient, as they could go in terrain the horses could not. Horse logging also required additional workers known as “swampers.” Their job was to remove any debris or vegetation that could result in an injury to the horses legs.

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Purdy Brothers Logging Co.

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Logging could be hazardous to one’s health.

My father, Leroy W. Purdy was born on March 7, 1927 at Susanville’s Riverside Hospital. Seasoned readers will recall that he was a colorful character back in the day.

Leroy spent most of his life in logging. His first hand introduction was logging at Red River Lumber Company’s Camp Harvey, with his best friend and future brother-in-law, Bob Rea. When his brother, James, returned to Susanville after World War II, they formed a partnership known as Purdy Brothers Logging. Times were really good for fifteen years, and then the Black Widow entered the picture. Their world came crushing down, and the partnership dissolved.

Leroy continued a solo logging career, later forming L&M Logging. Those days I remember well, spending many summers working out in the woods growing up. My father noticed my enthusiasm which eventually, I received a stern lecture from him, “No son of mine is going to be a logger.” With that career option gone, who knew later I would be writing the history of the logging industry among other topics.

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Camp Lasco Train Wreck

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The Camp Lasco commute train. Courtesy of Ron Linebarger

In July 1925, one of the more unusual railroad logging accidents occurred near Lassen Lumber & Box Company’s Camp Lasco (located on the north side of Peg Leg Mountain). A railroad tracklaying machine had just departed camp when it jumped the tracks, turning over and spreading rails in its path. Eight men were injured, all of whom were transported to Susanville’s Riverside Hospital for treatment.

Another shot of the No. 25. Courtesy of Ron Linebarger

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The Maryland Hotel

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Maryland Hotel, July 10, 1983

This topic falls along the same line as that of the Gables.  Unlike the Gables, the Maryland Hotel is a thing of the past. The Maryland was located at 135 South Lassen Street. Its name rather misleading, not quite a hotel, but not quite a boarding house either. However, during its tenure it served the community well. When the lumber mills were the predominate industry in Susanville, a large number of single men, either worked in the mills or in the woods. It should be noted the lumber companies sought to hire married men with families, as it was deemed they were more stable, unlike single men who went from one operation to another seeking the proverbial greener pastures. Of note, the Maryland had a maximum double occupancy of 60. In 1983, the property was acquired by the nearby mortuary who tore down structure to make additional parking.

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Bunnell Railroad Siding

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Bunnell siding, circa 1921. Courtesy of Lenala Martin

This siding on the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was located a mile west of Devils Corral. In the fall of 1919, James McNeen relocated his sawmill from Colorado to this site.  The steam-powered mill had an average daily output of 30,000 board feet of lumber.  The mill served as a major supplier for Susanville’s Lassen Lumber & Box Company.  Yet, after a year in operation, McNeen was plagued with financial problems and turned the mill over to Herman Enhorning. In 1922, Enhorning sold the mill to Perry M. Newgard.   In 1925, Joseph McAllister purchased the sawmill from Newgard. McAllister had financial problems and the mill did open for the 1927 or 1928 season. The sawmill was destroyed by fire on October 12, 1928, some thought it was rather suspicious.

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History

The Big Tree – A Follow Up

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The record load of 26,860 board feet being unloaded at the Fruit Growers millpond, Susanville, August 21, 1953. Courtesy of Hank Martinez

Yesterday, it was noted that the massive sugar pine tree felled by the Red River Lumber Company contained 27,570 board feet. To gain a better understanding, the above photograph is a massive truck load of logs being unloaded at Fruit Grower’s Susanville millpond that contained 26,860 board feet!

A question was raised about timber fallers. A good timber faller can determine precisely where the tree will fall. Well, a not so good faller, is another tale. I recall in one instance working in the woods with my Dad. My father gave the faller instruction as to where a particular tree was to land. Needless to say, it did not happen and some one was not happy with the final result.

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That is a big tree!

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This mammoth tree was cut in 1922 on Fruit Growers property west of Eagle Lake.

In November 1928 the Red River Lumber Company reported that they had felled a 650 year-old sugar pine tree at Camp 74, in Plumas County, west of Chester. It required three railroad flat cars to bring the tree to the mill in Westwood. It was 101 inches in diameter at the stump and 84 inches at the second cut.* The tree contained 27,570 board feet. Red River noted that this was the largest tree ever brought into the mill.

*For those not familiar trees are bucked/cut into 32 foot lengths.

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Collins Pine Almanor Railroad

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The Almanor Railroad’s No. 106

In the early 1900s, the  founders of Collins Pine Company amassed some 60,000 acres of timberland in the greater Lake Almanor Basin.  It was not until the late 1930s, that they gave consideration to establish a mill there. In the fall of 1940, after much negotiations the Red River Lumber Company offered a mill site adjacent to Chester, along with thirteen miles of its main line railroad from Chester to Clear Creek Junction where it connected with the Western Pacific Railroad, which Red River estimated its value at $80,000.

Thus, the Almanor Railroad was born. Collins Pine changed it from a private line to a common carrier, should anyone in Chester desire to use it. Collins Pine had a lot of work to upgrade the railroad line. It also needed motive power, as it decided not to purchase any of Red River’s locomotives. At its Grande Ronde operation, it had discontinued its railroad logging in favor of truck logging. There it had at its disposal a Heisler geared steam locomotive, the 104, and it was put into operation on the Almanor. Initially it worked ideally to handle the railroad’s sharp turns and steep grades. It was later replaced with a small diesel locomotive.

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