Redwood Saga from 1947

[tufftin]

This wonderful film is all about logging in the Redwoods and shows many interesting facts. It even shows rail cars being cabled up and down as William had mentioned in his story about Eden Ridge so sit back and enjoy!
Mike

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcEto_Q8MlY&feature=email

[Muleskinner]

Mike,

Wonderful Movie. The logging is done by the Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia in Humboldt County. I reconize the Yeager Creek area and the train running along the bluffs at Rio Dell, California, across the river from Scotia. The part where the train is coming loaded across the trestle at the river is south of Scotia where B Mill is located. The trestle was rebuilt for the Off Hiway rigs which later replaced the railroad units to the south.. The train is coming out of the bear Creek area line south of Pepperwood, California.

Where they are feeding the mill is at A Mill the main saw mill at Scotia which was the also main sawmill for The PALCO operation. The over head gantry loader and stackers were still in use when I was in Grade school at Rio Dell and the trains were still running, although the steam Lokies were gone and the 77 Ton Diesels were then running turns. The incline which they were showing was on the North side of The EEL river at holmes South of Scotia. There are still remenents of it going up the hillside to the old logging Camps which were once established alond the route. The logging was done at such high altitudes because of the mountains, they wiched the Lokies right up the mountain along with the buggies for loading. They had other Lokies already at the top but they had to travel such great distances from the top of the incline, That it was Nessesary to bring the Main lokie from below to the top for shunting loaded and unloaded buggies around the staging yard.

Once this was completed the main Lokie was sent down the incline to await the loaded buggies as they were sent down afterwards. The Lokie which now resides at the Scotia Museum of PALCO is the last Lokie which was brought down from the top of the incline after the logging in the area was completed. The Washington Yarder and steam donkey are also from the top of the incline area. Inside the museum you can also see pictures which show the areas in this film and names a lot of the loggers who worked there. One such was Al Roper a railroad rounder for the railroad. His son later went on to start Roper Trucking in Rio Dell and then moved it to Blue Lake, California, east of Arcata on Hiway 299.

Also Harvey Duclo a good friend of the families who spent many years at the top of the incline, along with his oldest son Red who was a buggie bouncer at the winch controls for lowering down and bringing up buggies on the incline. Harvey was a hook tender on the Washington unit now on display at the Museum.

Paul Gibson who lived in Fortuna was a faller and Cat skinner in the Yeager Creek area and my Brother in Law Bob Ring also worked the same area as a cat Skinner for years before going to truck driving. When we forst moved to Rio Dell California my Step Dad worked at Fairhearst Lumber Company in Fortuna and then took a job Hauling logs with a Kenworth Mule train out of the Bull Creek area above Pepperwood and Myers Flat Are of California south of Scotia.

Seeing that movie sure does jar the memory a Little. I've been to almost every area on it at one time or another. Everything was gone by then but you could still find traces of the logger of Yesterday all over the place. Will Post a few pics fromthe PALCO Museum at Scotia as soon as I can get them uploaded to Photo Bucket.

[tufftin]

Geesh! Sure sparked a history in you William. Glad that I found it and posted on here.
Mike

[Ryan Rønning]

That was a great video. First one I have seen that really shows the whole process in detail.

[tufftin]

You have no idea how much I hate photobucket.
Mike

[Ryan Rønning]

I cant see nothing William

[Muleskinner]

I'm About fed up with them also. But if I chaqnge all My prior posting will be this way with out pics.

[Muleskinner]

Palco Museum, Scotia, California






All these images are of the Equipment which was brought down from the top of the incline at Holmes, California.

[tufftin]

It's wonderful that someone had the foresite to make a museum of these pieces. So much logging has gone away with the torch.
Mike

[dptydawg]

Love to stare at old machinery. The architecture of the mueseum is something else. Greek style temple done in logs. Now that would make a high class workshhop for a diorama

[Muleskinner]

I only wish as a young snipper i would have had the since to carry a camera with me with all the equipment I've seen in the logging industry which has now faded into torch history. If it were all preserved it would make a museum on the west coast the size of Washington D.C. in area.

One thing which sparked a memory was the reciprocating gas powered bucking and falling whip saws in the movie. In all the movies I've seen these saws, I have yet to see one in a Museum, unless I've missed them in the corner or something. They were the Prelude to the Chainsaw which was invented in Humboldt County and replaced alot of Falling articles.

The had on of them at Scotia A-Mill at the bottom of the Bull Chain to the mill which you could watch cutting the but slabs off the logs before they went into the De barker tunnel. That was another thing to watch. Scotia used high pressure water jets which literally blew the bark off of the Redwood logs so the were clean when they got to the head rig. Watching the head rig cutting those big slab Cants off the log and sending them to the edger and then to the pony saw was a sight also. The Edger at Scotia could handle a 18 ft wide Cant and cut it down to timbered length and width for further processing. there were three rounders tailing the edger turning timbers instead of the usual one tailer. What an operation.

I guess in my time I had taken about upteen or so tours thru that Operation at Scotia and every time I went I saw something new.

[bluemule75]

now that is cool!

[ap40rocktruck]

Just in Awe!

Thanks for sharing

Ap40