Freerails > Model Railroad Forums > Railcars Railtrucks & Critters > Canadian Logging Railcar Contraption In Use |
Freerails > Model Railroad Forums > Railcars Railtrucks & Critters > Canadian Logging Railcar Contraption In Use |
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corv8 Moderator
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http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/logging/WFP_123.jpg Seems this contraption is still in use... Pic. is from 2016... What unfortunate loggers have to ride to their doom in this thing ... ? |
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Kitbash0n30 Registered 
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corv8 wrote:
Oh, I wouldn't worry, they are lumberjacks and they're okay. |
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pipopak Registered
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I recall seeing a similar one lettered for Weyerhauser. But I have been wrong before as my wife tells me every 5 minutes... Jose. |
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Si.archived Registered 
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" I have been wrong before as my wife tells me every 5 minutes... " Hi Jose  I guess that means at full-speed ...  ... you could be wrong about 12 Things/Hour ?  - - - - - - - From 'Google Images' ...  'Western Forrest Products' ? The genetic-fingerprint is unmistakable !   Deathproof ?  I have seen various speeders of very similar designs ... ... & I could be WRONG  but I'm gonna say 'Gibson' built ?  ( wouldn't put $$$ on it though ... I could be WRONG ! )    Si. |
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pipopak Registered
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They all have a thing in common: They look like junkyard rejects! Jose. |
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pipopak Registered
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Being wrong doesn't work like math. While the product of 2 negatives make a positive, two wrongs, while married, make a cosmically big WRONG! Jose (running for cover). |
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corv8 Moderator
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pipopak wrote:
The bus type folding door leads in this direction.... However, the many curved panels seem to indicate they had a capable bodyman. Would have been far easier to build a rectangular box on four wheels. Maybe they had a supply of retired buses with round bodies to cannibalize? |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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Hi all Canfor/Western Forest Products Englewood speeders 123, 124 and 129, were built by Hays Gibson around 1947. 123 and 124 were built new for Canfor, and 129 came second hand. They were built to standards laid down by British Columbia Department of Railways, governing speeders on logging railroads. This included fitting airbrakes, safety glass and sanding gear, and improved ride by ensuring adequate wheel base etc. They had to be painted in a high visibility color (yellow), and fitted with two head lamps to distinguish them from locomotives at night. Speeders were an improvement over converted box cars for crew comfort, and also when fitted with couplers could be used for light switching. I saw #123 and 129 (converted for MoW) at Nimpkish and 124 stored at Woss in 2006, and they were used up to the end of the railroad in 2017. I attach a photo I took in 2006. I missed seeing them arrive as my wife and I were down on the lakeside, looking at the remains of the 1940’s log dump. A missed opportunity I guess. Best Regards Alan Sewell  |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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This is 129 stripped down with a "flat bed" for track maintenance. Also at Nimpkish in 2006. Alan  |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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And #124 in reserve at Woss. Alan  |
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Lee B Registered 
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When Simpson logging's RR was still running in the Shelton, WA area, they didn't have anything like that. Those kinds of larger speeders and trailers, seemed to be somewhat common north of the BC border, though. Once the era of logging camps ended, I guess that also ended the era, of second hand passenger cars used to move loggers into/out of the mountains. These Canuck speeders look like shop crews got a couple of old Airstream RVs, and went nuts on them. Imagine someone getting one of these sets second hand, and taking it to NARCOA speeder meets. You could turn one into an actual rail-mounted RV if you wanted to... |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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Hi Lee Simpson used a similar Gibson speeder at Camp Grisdale, and as the shop switcher there. John Henderson sent me a few photos of it, and it was in use there until Grisdale closed in 1985. A photo is attached. By the time I saw it in 1999 it had been heavily rebuilt, with most of the superstructure removed. I think it is fair to say US loggers used similar large speeders from Gibson or Skagit, but often put their own bodies on them, or reconstructed them at some stage. Best regards Alan  |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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In 1999 Weyerhaeuser were using the attached large speeder, at the site of Headquarters on the Longview branch. Not sure who was the builder and neither was John H, who was the expert on these things. Alan  |
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Lee B Registered
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I'll be darned, I had no idea Simpson had one of those! |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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Lee. This is what it looked like in 1999. Very different. Alan  |
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Si.archived Registered
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" They were built to standards ... " " ... got a couple of old Airstream RVs and went nuts on them " STANDARDS ! ... OLD AIRSTREAMS ! Before " standards " & " Airstream RVs " ... ( possibly even before the discovery of aluminium ! ) ... " unfortunate loggers " W D " ride to their doom in " ... TIMBER !  Looks like a leaky gas tank & the whole thing could be an inferno in seconds !  Might get a splinter or two in a wreck as well !    Si. |
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Kitbash0n30 Registered
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Si. wrote:
Oh, but they aren't risking doom, it is No.7, it's their lucky speeder! Thanks for the photo, I would never have imagined such a thing as this existed. It is so tremendously odd, that if my health were better I would already have a model in progress.  And what size are those tiny little wheels ? They can't be much more than 15 to 18 inches diameter. |
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Lee B Registered
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Well, let's face it, logging was never a safe occupation. Probably more men died in the forests logging giant stands you'd find near Shelton or up on Vancouver Island, than were killed on the railroads in the same region in the same timeframe(s). |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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In spite of the largely humorous comments in this thread that the speeders etc. were dangerous and thrown together by the mill blacksmith from old bus parts, most of this is largely untrue. By the 1940s there were State and Federal safety rules governing speeders and transport of crew. This did not mean logging or logging railroads were/are without dangers, and accidents happen, but a speeder was certainly safer and more comfortable than riding a flat car. Gibson and Skagit built a range of speeders “built for loggers use – to stand loggers abuse”, and these were sometimes modified by the larger company shops. This included adding a body of varying states of beauty. The speeder in the last post probably started as a Skagit MAC 6-40 built with a high cab, and possibly with just as a flat body as this Schafer version. (although this does not have the high cab) Alan  |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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Given the climate in the woods, the crew needed some protection from the elements, and most operators had fully enclosed speeders for crew transport. Speeder #7 is probably one such, although the superstructure appears more roomy than most. A more typical version is the attached Rayonier speeder, which is a Skagit. The family likeness with #7 is I think apparent. Alan  |
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Si.archived Registered
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'Skagit Iron Works' MAC-4-40 speeder ...  From Google Images. n30 ?Si. |
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Alan Sewell Registered
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Hi Si. There is a better photo of this, in the "Kinsey Photographer - Locomotive Portraits" book. Seems Kinsey caught some of the logging brass from the Sauk River Lumber Company, taking their nearly new Skagit speeder for an inspection trip to the woods operation. Also tagging along are a couple of Skagit Indian women going berry picking. In 1945 Sauk still had 15 miles of standard gauge track, with a 90-ton Shay and a 70-ton Willamette. Alan |
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oztrainz Super Moderator 
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Hi all, The link is to my photos, of the Buda-powered Washinton Ironworks version at Port Alberni See http://www.freerails.com/view_post.php?post_id=111086 |
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Kitbash0n30 Registered
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Spiffy paint on it. |
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oztrainz Super Moderator
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Hi Forrest I got those photos within a few months of it being "given a birthday", by the Port Alberni shops team back in 2013. I wasn't expecting to see it parked at the station. |
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oztrainz Super Moderator
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Hi all On checking, the Alberni Pacific Railway at Port Alberni, seems to have one of the CANFOR types. It can be seen sitting outside their shops. https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2399383,-124.8088956,73m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-GB |
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Si.archived Registered
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 If there aren't any ol' Airstream trailers about  ... ... or logging safety regulators ! ... ... the basic 'shed on wheels' form seems to be popular ! Add a V8 muscle-car motor ... Perfectly safe ! Si. |
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corv8 Moderator
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Alan Sewell wrote:
Found two more pics of this thing.. Now as there are front + rear views, no reason not to build one.   |
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2foot6 Moderator 
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An interesting model to build, a number of small windows and curved trimming on the walls. When are you going to start building Gerold? ...........Peter |
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Si.archived Registered
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I hope Canadian Ken (Mr. Water Tank to you !) & everyone ... ... has had a good look at that great logging water tank, in the background, as well.  Si. |
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Ken C Registered 
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Si. A very interesting water tank. However, unless I get a copy of the Kaslo & Slocan Rly. plan book, with the water tanks built in 1895, one of 25,000 gals, the smaller 9,600 gals, I will not! be building another water tank. More then enough to keep me busy, with a second construction article to write up, and finish the WP&Y Rly. tank car #11 Still need to build a frame for the tank to sit on. |
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corv8 Moderator
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Found a static French Railcar, again by Atlas, that has a similar concept like those Northwest speeders, symmetrical body, center entrance, cab on top. So checked which drive might fit underneath. A German "Schienenbus VT98" drive fits like it is made for it ! Finished the conversion in one day.   |
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