New Plan

[sailormatlac]

Thanks for the link, Matt. I have been reading thru it and see some great shots that support my intent on running the lumber off the mountain and down to Bodden Yard using 44 and 70' Tonner diesels. I read about a rail line in Calif that picked up finished loads of lumber from several small once-thriving mills along a 30 mile route . I like that idea to support my plans..my mill will be one of several in the region which loads finished lumber on a regularly scheduled pick up from the small company that leases track rights.. Believable scenario???.

The longer I read about logging and sawmills, the bigger this spur gets......

I'm happy to see your interest is growing stronger and stronger. The river/rail idea is a nice touch.

I'm not that much knowledgeable about sawmill operation, though I once wanted to do one and did some superficial research. The idea of picking up cars at several mills is interesting. I like the idea of a train growing longer as it travel it's subdivision. It's also a good opportunity to have an interchange with another carrier out of the layout to simulate in and out from the oustide world.

In my area, up to the fifties, there was once many sawmills on the main line that were rail-served (about four). A few of them were specialized in a kind of finished products (broom stick, dimensional lumber, plank/siding, shingle). A few hundred feet from my home, there used to be a big mill complex. Most wood was floated to the mill into a large pond. There, some where sawn into lumber, but a few weren't and were directly loaded on rail as pulpwood or other use.

Sawdust and woodchip are also a byproduct that can be hauled over your road and they were usual freight in yoru time frame. I think you've got plenty of options to choose from and lots of different products to haul. If you got 2 sidings as you said, one could be for finish lumber products, the other to move out woodchip and other by products. In the early post of my Hedley-Junction thread, there's some infos about such woodchip loading facilities in the 60s in New Brunswich. I feel it could looks at home in your concept.

Matt