The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-04-12
r.oaeu Railways for Pulp Wood
transportation

r,o Great Northern Paper Co. is
ur conducting an investigation in
,o,,hern Maine to determine the prac-
u..h,lity of installing wooden rail-
-. over which to transport pulp
~nod through the forest. If favor
,ble report is rendered, such an
,,rovation will be introduced next
.n,er in places where long hauls are
necessary
Tho idea of hauling logs over wood
an rails, upheld by crude trestles,
originated in Sweden, being invited
,,r n Widegren of Herserud, Lidin-
~ c. NJ. Hilton of Bangor, engineer
~ the Great Northern, was in Sweden
,s.t summer investigating methods Of
,nmhering and made favorable re-
.ort IN the wooden railway systems
Ss,e in use. Now, an investigation
i, hping made to determine whether
A. not such system could be used
.avaptageously in Maine.
CAN BIZ CSE1p EfAlt hooANo
oue of the principal advantages of
N. wooden railway is that it is a
MANS of transportation which can be
nsed the year round, due to the rails
heipg placed on trestles, in winter
limo Il is very easy to remove the
snow from the rails and the road
offers furthermore the possibility OF
summer operation, which is easier
than winter operation in every res
meet. Logging with horses or tractors
!, confined mainly to the winter time,
when snow is available.
Not only has the wooden railway
advantages in the way of operation,
but II is inexpensive as well. Figures
submitted by the Swedish designer
show that it will cost about $3.50 per
mile to install in Maine, which ac-
eording to F. A. Gilbert of the Great
Northern Co., is much less than it
costs to swamp a road suitable for
tractor use.
Srartnas, Sweden.
The rail timber is about seven
inches top diameter. The guiding
rail is sawn on all four sides, but it
need not be fully squared. The other
rail is sawn on two sides only. The
rails are usually about five metres.
ZIG feet and six inches) long. The
gauge is now 1900 nm. 90 inches).
counted from center to center of the
wheels, but the gauge of the track
Il allowed to vary considerably.
Straight timber is not required for
the rails.
The sleepers are about six or seven
inches thick and their length depends
on the ground, as no roadbed is made.
On swampy ground the sleepers may
be twice as long as on harder ground.
The trestles have five inch to six inch
posts-braced With two-inch'to three
inch sticks. A cap is placed on the
top of the posts under the rail-scarfs.
Between each scarf are placed two
x-braced intermediate posts without
caps.
Spruce or pine timber is used for
The rails and the wheels of the trains
must have rubber tires degree softer
than the wood, SO that the rails will
not be damaged.
seven ton special locomotive with
an so horse power engine and having
four different speeds is used on wood
en- railways. On the locomotive is
mounted a powerful hoist, which can
be worked by its own engine. The
cars are of the skeleton type and can
be made of timber available at the
place where they are to be operated.
Uphill grades of two per cent are
taken with ease by loaded train
at a speed of seven miles per hour.
The train in this case consists of six
cars each being loaded with six or
seven tons. AS each car weighs two
tons and the locomotive seven tons,
the total weight of the train is about
60 tons.
100000 CORDS CUT
Favored by excellent logging con-
ditions, the Great Northern Paper Co.
has nearly completed a cut of 100000
cords of pulp wood, all but 100000
cords of which have been cut in the
state of Maine. Officials of the com
pany believe that conditions will be
favorable for driving by April 20, al
though at present all of the rivers and
lakes are frozen over and there is
about four feet of snow in the woods.
River drivers, it is expected will be
scarce this year. as woods labor was
not very plentiful during the winter
IN all, about $4,000 men were employ
ed for woods work during the winter
by the company and at that, the crews
were sometimes short more than 1000