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Forest railway

Railway transport used for forestry tasks From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Forest railway

A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felled logs to sawmills or railway stations.

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Forest railway operations in Comandău, Romania

In most cases this form of transport utilised narrow gauges, and were temporary in nature, and in rough and sometimes difficult to access terrain.

History

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Shay locomotive on an American forest railway (Harbor Springs Railway)

Before the railway was invented, logs were transported in large numbers from the forest down rivers either freely or on wooden rafts. This was not without its problems and wood was often damaged in transit, lost in floods or stranded in shallow water. Suitable rivers were often unavailable in mountainous terrain.

Simple wagonways, using horses and wooden rails, were used from the 18th century. However the invention of the steam locomotive and steel rails soon led to these being employed for forestry. However the difficult terrain within forests meant that narrow-gauge railways, which took up less space, were lighter and easier to build and enabled tight curves to be laid, were preferred. These were the so-called forest railways. In particularly large areas of forest or forests of unusually large trees, such as in the northwestern US, extensive forest railways were even built using standard gauge exclusively for forestry tasks. Special geared locomotives such as the Shay and Climax locomotive were developed for high tractive effort on rough track. Some forest railways became common carriers when cleared forest land was converted to agricultural or recreational use.

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Perdido, a steam pole road locomotive

In cases where the railway itself was considered very short-term, or the region was extremely difficult to access, logs would often be laid into the ground as a pole road, rather than the cost and logistics of laying steel rails and sleepers. Pole roads could be extensive; several examples in the southeastern United States extended up to 20 miles (32 km) at the end of the nineteenth century, and used purpose-built steam locomotives.[1]

In addition to steam traction, diesel and petrol-driven locomotives were also used later on. These largely brought animal-hauled transportation to an end on the forest railways. Also common were routes that just used gravity. Wagons loaded with wood would simply roll downhill in a controlled fashion under the pull of gravity. Foresters also travelled on these, at some risk to their lives on occasions – as brakemen. Empty wagons were hauled uphill again by horses.

From the second half of the 20th century forest railways were threatened by road transportation and by the end of the 1960s they had practically disappeared from western Europe. Roads were often laid in their place on the old trackbeds.

In a few Eastern European countries forest railways survived longer, particularly in Russia where there are still some today. In Hungary too there are several forest railways in active service today, some are also used for tourist traffic. The numerous forest railway operations in Romania were closed, with a few exceptions, by the 1990s. In Western Europe there are very few which are even preserved as museum railways.

In Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) the history and fate of logging tramways/forest railways is similar to Europe, with most lines either converted to motorised truck transport or closing down in the 1960s. Significant numbers of locomotives and other remnants of the former lines are found in museums and museum railways in Australia.

Forest railways in Europe

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Austria

More information Railway name, Route ...
Railway nameRouteTrack gauge
mm		Length
km		TractionFromToOperated<r>byRemarks
Lower Austria
Haselbach Forest RailwayForsthaus-Hochwiese600~2.5Gravity, oxen, petrol-driven locos19151918BMFdemolished
Forest Railway im KlauswaldKlauswald, near Puchenstuben600?4.519301937WbK
Langau-Lackenhofer Höfe Forest RailwayLangau-Lackenhof1000~7Horses~18451867WbLL
Lunz-Langau-Saurüsselboden Forest RailwayLunz am See-Langau-Saurüsselboden70018.8Diesel19201974WbLLlimited public passenger services, demolished
Naßwald Forest RailwaySchwarzau im Gebirge6000.6Diesel, accumulator1985museum railway
Wastl am Wald - Hühnerkogel Forest RailwayWastl am Wald600~419341945WbW
Forest Railway im Weinsberger ForstMartinsberg-Gutenbrunn -Berglucke760~3619201933WWF
Upper Austria
Offensee Forest RailwaySteinkogl-Steibachl-Obere Moosau80015.518991954WbO
Reichraming Forest RailwaySchallau-Maieralm-Hansigraben76016.519201971WbRrlimited public passenger services, demolished
Maieralm-Unterweißwasser13.0
Reichraming-Hintergebirge32.7Diesel
Burgenland
Dörfl Forest RailwayDörfl6009.419241933WbD
Großmürbisch Forest Railway(Alsörönök-) Großmürbisch-Reinersdorfer Bach760~7.519351937WbGborder crossing, demolished
Großpetersdorf-Rumpersdorf Forest RailwayGroßpetersdorf-Rumpersdorf760~13.51920~1933WGR
Güssing - Neuberg im Burgenland Forest RailwayGüssing-Neuberg im Burgenland760~1419131921WGN
Güssing - Rohr im Burgenland Forest RailwayGüssing-Rohr im Burgenland760~2719131921WGR
Lockenhaus Forest RailwayLockenhaus60014.919261956WbL
Punitz Forest RailwayPunitz-Punitzer Gemeindewald600~9Horses1905~1933WbP
Salzburg
Zinkenbach Forest RailwayLagerplatz Hundsleiten-Königsbachalm7006.7Diesel19211967WbZno passenger traffic, demolished
Styria
Deutschlandsberg Forest RailwayDeutschlandsberg-Freiland bei Deutschlandsberg7609.9SteamWbDno passenger traffic, demolished
Hofbauer-Kupper-Bärental60017.9Steambetween Kupper and Freiland (3.1 km) with cable car, no passenger traffic between Hofbauer and Kupper, demolished
FeistritzwaldbahnSteinhaus am Semmering-Rettenegg60022.0Steam19021958WbFlimited public passenger services, with two inclined lifts, demolished
Frohnleiten Forest RailwayFrohnleiten-Traninger-Rossstall76012.419251951WbFdemolished
Traninger-Dionys5.6
Gundersdorf Forest RailwayDampfsäge-Höllein7604.0WbG
Ingering Forest RailwayIngering-Seeboden720~10.5~18851938WbI
Radmer Forest RailwayHieflau-Radmer-Neuhaus830~1419201967WbRa
9001200 V DC19671979
Trieben Forest RailwayTrieben-Lager Seyfried800~10.81900~1939WbT
Tyrol
KlammbachwaldbahnAchenkirch7606.619141960
Bächental Forest RailwayBächentalbahn75010.219301956border crossing
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France

Germany (selection)

More information Railway name, Route ...
Railway nameRouteStateTrack gauge
mm		Length
km		FromToRemarks
Ebersberg Forest RailwayEbersbergBavariademolished
Reichswald Forest RailwaySebalder ReichswaldBavariademolished
Ruhpolding–Reit im Winkl State Forest RailwayRuhpolding-Reit im WinklBavaria10002319221936/37demolished
Schorfheide Forest RailwayDöllnkrug-HöpenBradenburg600
Spiegelau Forest RailwaySpiegelau-FinsterauBavaria600<10019091960demolished
Waldeisenbahn MuskauWeißwasser-Bad MuskauSaxony600>501895museum railway
Wasgau Forest RailwayBundenthal-RumbachRhineland-Palatinate60014,519211930demolished
Zwieselau Forest RailwayZwieselau-BuchenauBavaria60014,519301958demolished
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Hungary

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Tourist trains and narrow gauge museum at the Kemence Forest Museum Railway
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Ticket vending on the Szob-Nagybörzsöny forest railway

All forest railways have tourist trains

Poland

Romania

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Romanian forest railway loco on the Steyrtalbahn

Russia

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Russian loco TU6A with a log train on the Udimskaya Forest Railway

For passengers and tourist:

Active forest railways:

Slovakia

All forest railways are only museums

Sweden

  • Ohsabanan, active forest railway and tourist trains

Logging railroads in North America

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A logging railroad describes railroads, pole roads, tram roads, or similar infrastructure used to transport harvested timber from a logging site to a sawmill. Logging railroads vary in gauge and length, with most forested regions of the world supporting a railroad of this type at some point.

While most railroads of this variety were temporary, it was not uncommon for permanent railroads to take their place as a complement to logging operations or as an independent operation once logging ended.

Canada

Mexico

United States

California

Nevada

New England

More information Railway name, Route ...
Railway nameRouteTrack gauge
mm		Length
km		FromToOperated
by		Remarks
Maine
Bald Mountain RailroadJackman143519151926dismantled
Calais RailwayCalais - Woodland1435331835Pan Am Railwaysfreight only
Carry Pond and Carry Brook RailroadMoosehead Lake - Seboomook Lake610319141916horse-drawn flat cars; dismantled[6]
Eagle Lake and West Branch RailroadEagle Lake - Umbazooksus Lake143521[7]19271933transferred log drive pulpwood between river basins; dismantled[6]
Franklin and Megantic RailwayStrong - Bigelow6104818841935Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroaddismantled
Phillips and Rangeley RailroadPhillips - Rangeley6104618901932Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes RailroadVictorian resort passenger service; dismantled
Ray Lumber CompanyBowerbank Township143519121929dismantled
Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes RailroadRumford - Kennebago14357518941936Maine Central Railroaddismantled
Seboomook Lake and Saint John RailroadSeboomook Lake - Baker Branch Saint John River14352919191929dismantled[8]
Somerset RailroadBingham - Moosehead Lake14358118901933Maine Central RailroadVictorian resort passenger service; dismantled
Wild River RailroadGilead - Hastings14351618911904dismantled
New Hampshire
Saco Valley RailroadMount Carrigain14351118921898dismantled
Sawyer River RailroadSawyer River14351418771927dismantled
Success Pond RailroadBerlin - Success14354218931906dismantled
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New Mexico

Oregon

South Carolina

West Virginia

Washington

Forest railways in Asia

Indonesia

Japan

Taiwan

Forest railways in Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

Other railways for the transport of goods

Notes

Sources

External links

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