People interested in vintage sawmills should enjoy looking at the video on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXMDlxY1fQQ
showing the McLean, Vancouver Island sawmill in action.
Mark
Mark,
Thanks for posting that! Cool stuff! Nothing like riding the same platform that the wood is being cut on. Scary!
Hey, Crandell! How far away would that be from you?
Tom
Nice videos. Having been a machine mechanic for many years, I was looking for OSHA.[:)]
Logging is still a dangerous occupation.
Rich
Tom, I took the Alberni Pacific 2-8-2T from the waterfront downtown Port Alberni to the McClean Sawmill in late June of 2005. I even got a cab ride from the enginehouse forward to a switch, hooked up to several open passenger cars (shorties), and then reversed back the way we came about 600 m to the depot. The train ride to the sawmill is about 35 minutes each way.
From my doorstep to the depot in Port Alberni is about 60 miles or so, and takes about 75 minutes due to windy and busy roads this time of year, plus we have to reduce speed going through the famous Cathedral Grove at the southeastern shore of Cameron Lake where many tourists want to stop and admire the tall stands of Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedar, and Douglas Fir.
I don’t want to take up more of Mark’s thread, but if anyone is interested, get to youtube and search for Alberni Pacific. You’ll fine a short and good quality video of the engine stationary and in motion right away.
-Crandell
Crandell, I don’t mind as long as people are polite.
I was at the McLean sawmill site in 2003, but didn’t have the opportunity to ride the train. That thread I started today concerning the logging truck is one of two (one yellow, one red) at the McLean site. At one time the mill received logs by train, then later in trucks.
Mark
For anyone in the Michigan area who wants to see a steam sawmill in action, I highly recommend the festival at Hartwick Pines State Park near Grayling. The festival this year is July 19-20. No trains, (off topic?) but a pretty great sight.
I saw this mill run about 15 years ago on a Cub Scout camping trip. We were rained out of the canoe trip planned for the morning so we we struck camp, went to the park and happened to hit a day the mill was running. What a sight… The engine was actually a steam tractor powering the mill from a power take-off via a belt about 15 feet long. When the log was run though the saw the tractor engine exhaust would really shout as it took up the load A damp, drizzly day, the steam and exhaust just hung in the air and sparks flew from the exhaust. Between the tractor engine, it’s governor and flywheel, the belt drive, the saw and the log platform there were plenty of flying parts and noise. All the boys thought this was cool - as did the dads!
George V.
I used to hang out at the Steam Threshers Reunion near Ft Wayne, Indiana as a kid, it would be only a few miles away from where I lived. Huge collection of old steam traction engines showed up under steam. They had a sawmill there. I have film of a lot of this.
Things around the place, the sawmill, hooked up via belt to the engine, a 2nd engine was hooked to another device and did cleanup work on the logs.
Teetertotter, you had to balance an engine on this bigger sized style of a kids teetertotter.
The “Hill”, you had to drive your engine up it.
Various fans centered in one spot, hook the engine to a huge 4 blade fan, the faster it ran, the harder the engine worked.
The Slow Speed contest, the engines went out for a race, at slow speed, you had to run your engine as slow as possible to the finish line wit
Mark,
Thanks for the link to this excellent video…I’ve learned a lot about how sawmill equipment works and have some new ideas for my layout.
Wayne