I have been following up on various suggestions from previous posts and once more need some advice on prototype operations. I seek suggestions for places where the GN either exchanged with logging lines or ran some of its own. My guess is the Northwest but more specific info would help me research some details.
Thanks,
Mark
Greetings, Mark. The Great Northern Railway did indeed interchange with many logging operations in the Northwest-specifically Washington State. A major one was the Bloedel-Donovan operation at Skykomish. This operation crossed the GN yard at Sky and the Skykomish River on a long timber trestle to access the Beckler River Valley to the north. Photos exist of this structure. There were other, smaller operators along the Stevens Pass mainline. Sultan Lumber Co. connected at Gold Bar, the Alpine Lumber Co. was at Alpine-east of Foss River a couple of miles. There were some small operations north of Snohomish that actually fed the NP’s Sumas branch, but NP interchanged with the GN at Snohomish and also had trackage rights into Everett from there too. There were also several logging operations connected to the Vancouver B.C.branch. The largest was the English Lumber Co., located in South Skagit County, just south and east of Mount Vernon. There were several smaller operators that connected to the Anacortes-Rockdale branch along the Skagit River. Among these were the Hamilton Lumber Co., the Lyman Lumber Co. and another Bloedel-Donovan operation. There were others of lesser note as well. Hope this helps.
The GN had no dedicated logging lines of its own, but it did interchange and had reloads with several logging operations on the west slopes of the Cascades in WA. Logs were hauled to several sawmills and pulp mills located primarily in the area along the Sound between Seattle and Bellingham (the NP and perhaps MILW handled delivery to mills south of Seattle, including those on the Olympic Peninsula).
One excellent book with dozens of maps and hundreds of photos showing logging operations in part of the GN service area, including reload locations, is ‘Logging Railroads in Skagit County’ by Dennis Thompson ( ISBN 0-915370-06-9).
I believe GN connected with several logging lines in northeast Minnesota. I would have to check my books at home to tell you which ones. As it happens, the GN’s lines in Mesabi country came from their purchasing an old logging RR called I think the Duluth & Winnepeg (not the later DW&P). They got a good deal because the D&W land was deemed “worthless” since it had been logged out. As Louis Hill suspected, the D&W property laid on top of some incredibly rich iron ore deposits that made the Hills and GN a great deal of money.
My thanks to everyone for the information. This will help - I will check the reference metioned. If there is a source on Minnesota operation, I would appreciate the reference. It is always nice to get help on these questions!
Mark
Well Frank King’s “Logging Railroads of Minnesota” would be the best book on the subject. He was a DMIR employee who wrote a couple of books on the Missabe. His dad was a logging RR engineer who later worked for the Missabe.
I took a quick look at my copy of the King book last night, looks GN connected with about 8-10 different logging railroads in northeast / northcentral Minnesota (around the headwaters of the Misssissippi). Some were private railroads, and some were common carriers like the Duluth and NorthEastern or Minnesota and International.
Stix,
Thanks for the advice and suggestions. I am trying to track down a copy of the King book (as well as the one on Washington) because its seems like it might be a good source of ideas. I am considering a few basic GN themes for my layout, and most seem to work best with an interesting branch.
Mark
You should be able to find it. I have the hardcover from the eighties, but it was reissued in softcover a few years ago. Como Shops online store has it in stock, go to their website (www.comoshops.com) and search on the author “King” and it should pop up for around $21. I’m sure many other sellers have it online or mail order. I’ve seen it in several hobby shops and at “The Depot” railroad museum in Duluth.
From the 1920’s thru 1975, GN and SP operated the Oregon, California and Eastern, from Klamath Falls, Oregon to Bly, Oregon. The two railroads were directed by the ICC to operat the OC&E on a five year rotating basis. The primary industry that used the OC&E was a variety of railroad logging companies including Weyerheauser Company, as well as a few agriculture customers. Weyerhaeuser’s woods line that ran from Beatty, OR, where it interchanged with the OC&E, to Sycan Marsh, was the last corporation to utilize the OC&E in 1990.