Re: What would you think? Moving railcars by truck

Indeed, on the Sumpter Valley we have moved many cars and even locomotives this way. But Brian's (Terry's) question is why, if they were moving camp cars by truck, would they leave the truss rods under them? I am quite familiar with the camp site and have pondered this myself. Not only could I not find a suitable place for a rail grade, but the road into the site would not be suitable for a lowboy. Furthermore, if there were rails to the site why would they set the cars off on blocks with the truss rods in place? And if the cars were on rails but were abandoned when they were finished why did they not simply tip them over to salvage the running gear? I grew up in a time and place where they were still hauling logs by rail, have done much studying on the subject, and even worked as a logger myself, and I cannot come up with a logical explanation. I don't really expect anyone else to either.

An interesting aspect of this camp site is that the water tank from Stoddard Lumber Co. Heisler No.1, known as "Old Brigham" is located here. It is upside down and the bottom is cut out, and was evidently used for a livestock watering tank. The interesting part is that we found the cut out bottom near a road several miles from the camp. Again no logical reason why it would be there.

There are many other mysteries around here too. Like why did they build the tail of a switch back on a trestle when they could have simply followed around the hill side? Another place I found a substantial fill, over a place they could have gone around, and then ended the grade about a hundred feet beyond. Stuff like that is what makes grade hiking interesting.