They use pole roads quite a bit in the swamps of the southern US and up in Alaska when the ground gor soggy in warm weather. My gramps bought some land when I was a kid in FLA and there was a pile of these wheels in the back corner. We found out later that there used to be a pole road logging track running throught the property in the teens and 20s. We ended up finding all kinds of remnants of machinery, tools and odds and ends along the back side of the property.
Some military trucks had dual wheels mounted on the front axle for crossing ravines, creeks etc. Two logs would be felled across the obstacle and the dual wheels would track on the logs like seen here.
I've heard there is an example somewhere in South Carolina, although it is privately owned and I'm pretty sure it is in bad condition. You never know though, there could be some abandoned ones somewhere in a forest. Also, I think it is the one at 1:32. And, I also have seen some pics of preserved diesel ones.
There is a Fordson tractor converted to a pole road "locomotive" on display at the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad in Mineral, WA. Unfortunately, there is no full scale operational pole road anywhere as far as I know.
It all reminds me of hiking deep in the mountains of Oregon and finding the old steam skids abandoned, far back among the abandoned mines near the waterfalls.
They had things similar in Australia and New Zealand. The unusable logs were cut into makeshift rails and most engines even had a steam powered saw that was used to make the rails. The locomotives could then be taken onto steel rails as the wheels were compatible with both wooden and steels rails. A noteable drawback to this was that the locos had to either be very light coffee pots or a geared engine with the weight spread out over many wheels. A replica of a logging coffee pot, albeit without the saw due to safety concerns, is running in Maryborough. She pulls occasional tourist trains on her own rail line, once again with added safety features such as steel rails. There is plenty of interesting stuff there so have a look if you're ever in the area.
That photo at 2:24 has some interesting possibilities. There are Mack Truck model kits available in a variety of scales, (including the big Monogram 1/24th scale 1926 MACK AC Bulldog Logging Truck recently reissued by Atlantis Models.) With a bit of old-school scratch building, (or even some 'newfangled' 3D Printing,) this would be a fun conversion project . . . .
Ooh I guess this make sense now despite the visual depiction. “we know a guy who was built to run on logs” I could assume the animators didn’t know what the writers had in mind. It’s nice to know some research went into looking up unique engines for JBS.
I have a cabin in Northern Minnesota, there is an old trail that everyone uses to ride ATVs, I did some digging and found out that it used to be an old railroad... I assumed 3ft gauge but it may have been a poleroad.
I had to listen to the end of the video several times to convince myself I wasn't going crazy when I heard Saria's Song at 2:50. My good man, I tip my hat to your excellent taste in background music.
I suspect that, relative to laying regular track, and given that the train can be Right There on the part of the pole road you're Not ripping up, they might well be. Of course, I'm also curious as to how often they actually Would move them vs just laying new ones.
well, there has apparently been some work done on wooden transistors recently.. but somehow I I don't think that's going to lead to a wooden motor... and a wooden Boiler is just never going to be sufficient, nevermind a wooden firebox or ICE. So, unfortunately, an all-wood railway is going to have to get it's motive power from a treadmill type arrangement or be animal haulled ... at which point it's just a wagonway.
Simmilar contraptions were used on mokra gora in Serbia. I think that there is a picure in the google reviews of bele vode that shows a adbonded piece of the rails.
A track that could be damaged by Beavers or termites. I wonder if there are any O scale pole road type locomotives and rolling stock? How did they build switches?
You mentioned that this was done during the "u.s. logging boom" right up to the "end of the u.s. logging boom". When was that? I can tell from the colorless pictures and the 1910s-style trucks that it was the early 20th century, but I'd appreciate some vague year numbers.
There are these straw things with balls in and you need to put it in some milk and it’s kinda like nesquick but with a straw so yeah we’ll need those for the next live
IIRC this wasn’t a new idea: it was done for the original UK tramways and done multiple times afterward until standardized use of iron and steel tracks was done
i don't think so, you woud need special Trains hauled in and then you would need also quite many logs hauled in that not "standing" around since i thing the City council might have something against cutting there Trees Also: while fine for a slow moving Worktrain that was cobbled together a 100 years ago, but i doubt that even in a country that value it's normal citizens that less than the US, that might be a "bit" unsafe Particular if there are "already" the option of moveable railways like from Peat extraction or the like
Speaking about this merely as an engineering standpoint, why didn't they knurl the log wheels so that they'd bite down as they rolled along? Or use strategic metal gear racks and cogs for steeper gradients? Just curious. : )
If that's N company's (I shall not speak their name lest I summon their wrath) music I hear in the background, may want to get rid of that lol. Personally I love hearing FTL's (Faster Than Light game OST) music in videos and they're real chill
I might be doing this here soon I need a good way to get lumber to my 1888 frick sawmill and I don't want to install a road and lose multiple acres of my hay land soooo mini railroad it is so I only use a third of the area a driveway will take up
If you're willing to put the investment in for steel rails you could use the same type of flat steel stock the channel Way out west is employing to move wood around into their drying sheds and charcoal kiln, the track consists of lengths of flat steel bar stock with holes drilled to have bolts placed through holes in similarly dsrilled short steel tube stock pegs which are hammered into drilled holes in small wooden ties, small bolted fishplates are used to join the bar rails, and the flexible bar stock allows one to form curves and rearrange the layout without too much difficulty. The flanged wheels are a round steel plate welded to a strip butt-welded into a tubular shape, fitted to tubular axles running in oiled wooden bearings which are fitted to fairly plain two-axle wooden carts but I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange a larger bogie flatbed. You could probably replace the rails entirely with these kinds of poles, but it really depends on your particular circumstances.
@CATASTEROID I've been subscribed to him for awhile I love his tracks but I'm starting from nothing so.... his design has to be next step up start small and work up from there
@@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695 fancy that, what a coincidence! If you start building keep me posted, I’m interested to see your solutions to the engineering problems
Pole-road Pole-road Pole-road,
Pole-road Pole-road Pole-road,
_Pole-road Pole-road Pole-road_ ,
*_Pole-road Pole-road Pole-road_* ,
*Rawhiiiiiiiiide*
Yes.
Indeed
Truely inspiring words
This brought a smile to my face. Until I realized that the fact I 'got' this joke shows my age . . . .
@@modelermark172 I got the joke but I'm 24. Now I feel old.
Giving the term "branch line" a whole new meaning, I see.
They use pole roads quite a bit in the swamps of the southern US and up in Alaska when the ground gor soggy in warm weather. My gramps bought some land when I was a kid in FLA and there was a pile of these wheels in the back corner. We found out later that there used to be a pole road logging track running throught the property in the teens and 20s. We ended up finding all kinds of remnants of machinery, tools and odds and ends along the back side of the property.
"We know a guy who was built to run on logs"
-Lexi, Journey Beyond Sodor
It just clicked while watching that THIS is what she meant
Some military trucks had dual wheels mounted on the front axle for crossing ravines, creeks etc. Two logs would be felled across the obstacle and the dual wheels would track on the logs like seen here.
Too bad there aren't any examples of these pole locomotives still in preservation. It'd be neat to see one in a museum
I've heard there is an example somewhere in South Carolina, although it is privately owned and I'm pretty sure it is in bad condition. You never know though, there could be some abandoned ones somewhere in a forest.
Also, I think it is the one at 1:32. And, I also have seen some pics of preserved diesel ones.
There is a truck at Duncan logging museum Vancouver island.
There is a Fordson tractor converted to a pole road "locomotive" on display at the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad in Mineral, WA. Unfortunately, there is no full scale operational pole road anywhere as far as I know.
Can you imagine the paperwork required to make a pole road now? The safety crap and the permits alone would be ridiculous!
@Buck1954 Not to say of course that there isn't value in that "safety crap" 😉
It all reminds me of hiking deep in the mountains of Oregon and finding the old steam skids abandoned, far back among the abandoned mines near the waterfalls.
They had things similar in Australia and New Zealand. The unusable logs were cut into makeshift rails and most engines even had a steam powered saw that was used to make the rails. The locomotives could then be taken onto steel rails as the wheels were compatible with both wooden and steels rails. A noteable drawback to this was that the locos had to either be very light coffee pots or a geared engine with the weight spread out over many wheels. A replica of a logging coffee pot, albeit without the saw due to safety concerns, is running in Maryborough. She pulls occasional tourist trains on her own rail line, once again with added safety features such as steel rails. There is plenty of interesting stuff there so have a look if you're ever in the area.
Wood'nt you believe the ingenuity of mankind
I beleaf it
Now that is amazoning
All of you, get out. The doors that way 🚪
@@ghastryder3945 **leaves**
LIMES!
That photo at 2:24 has some interesting possibilities. There are Mack Truck model kits available in a variety of scales, (including the big Monogram 1/24th scale 1926 MACK AC Bulldog Logging Truck recently reissued by Atlantis Models.) With a bit of old-school scratch building, (or even some 'newfangled' 3D Printing,) this would be a fun conversion project . . . .
Ooh I guess this make sense now despite the visual depiction.
“we know a guy who was built to run on logs”
I could assume the animators didn’t know what the writers had in mind.
It’s nice to know some research went into looking up unique engines for JBS.
Ah, yes, the Weekly Railway video by Train of Thought. Always good to watch.
I have a cabin in Northern Minnesota, there is an old trail that everyone uses to ride ATVs, I did some digging and found out that it used to be an old railroad... I assumed 3ft gauge but it may have been a poleroad.
Nice touch with saria's song. I thought I was lossing my mind for a second...
The turntable is an especially impressive bit of field engineering.
I had to listen to the end of the video several times to convince myself I wasn't going crazy when I heard Saria's Song at 2:50. My good man, I tip my hat to your excellent taste in background music.
Yay, dude, I was one of those who asked for this theme when you asked for ideas!
Fascinating story I had no idea. Also interesting how did you decide on using that particular selection of music? Are you a Zelda fan?
I assume just because it's the Lost WOODS theme.
I thought because that franchise has a Train-specific installment entitled "Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks"...
Coincidentally I picked up a book on logging railroads the other week, and it had some of these in there
Very nice report on this generally overlooked bit of railroad history.
1:40 what is this half Climax half chainsaw bullshit 😂
I never heard of that until now! This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
I’d like to see this replicated in model form 🤣
I want to try that…..
Diaroma= easy functional=?
stock up on toothpicks
@@jonbezeau3124 I would use real twigs on G scale.
Get some brass, a few reamers and a drill press then :)
Small amounts of lathe work can be done on a drill press.
Excellent choice of music for this one!
As an arborist and train enthusiast , this pleases me.
One of your more fascinating posts!
Great video as always. Love the music selection!
“Logs are easy to move” you definitely ain’t a woodsman
I suspect that, relative to laying regular track, and given that the train can be Right There on the part of the pole road you're Not ripping up, they might well be.
Of course, I'm also curious as to how often they actually Would move them vs just laying new ones.
First paper wheels now log rails, it’s looking like we could make a Railways out of trees now.
now we only need to make the engine out of cardboard then we are golden! 🤪👌
What next, wooden railroad ties?
well, there has apparently been some work done on wooden transistors recently.. but somehow I I don't think that's going to lead to a wooden motor... and a wooden Boiler is just never going to be sufficient, nevermind a wooden firebox or ICE. So, unfortunately, an all-wood railway is going to have to get it's motive power from a treadmill type arrangement or be animal haulled ... at which point it's just a wagonway.
@@laurencefraser Treadmill type arrangement... Quick! Call the ancient Greeks and see if we can borrow a wooden horse!
@@laurencefraser You might be able to make a wood boiler. I know you can make a wood stove.
1:20 Nice Fordson Tractor train conversion
That was fun! Never heard of that before - reminds me of the old Butterworth plateways.
2:29 As a railroad-loving trucker's son, I like that!
This reminds me of the early wood rail tramways serviced by horses
Norfolk Southern announces new cost-saving biodegradable railroad technology to be installed on all of its mainlines
Beautiful video TOT
Great vid ToT, smart use of spare logs.
Simmilar contraptions were used on mokra gora in Serbia.
I think that there is a picure in the google reviews of bele vode that shows a adbonded piece of the rails.
If the Misty Island Rescue was like that, then the Thomas and friends fandom wouldn't hate it. 😂😂
I love your videos
Wow, I didn't know loggers did this. This topic deserves a more in depth video.
Tricky to look at on its own because there were twin-drum logging skids everywhere to help the job along.
Great video!
That's actually really interesting!
This is the first I have ever heard of rails made out of logs.
Related to this, you should really make a video about the "Feldbahn" systems common in Europe.
Interesting I didn't know these existed and nice music choice
Lost woods from legend of zelda
Correction: there is NOT a smaller demand for lumber
They needed big traction wheels to run on logs like these, damn!
A track that could be damaged by Beavers or termites. I wonder if there are any O scale pole road type locomotives and rolling stock?
How did they build switches?
You mentioned that this was done during the "u.s. logging boom" right up to the "end of the u.s. logging boom". When was that? I can tell from the colorless pictures and the 1910s-style trucks that it was the early 20th century, but I'd appreciate some vague year numbers.
One day, I want to make a Thomas style tv show set in the USA. There's just so much potential waiting to be used.
Kids will be traumatized by all the derailments 😅
improvising at your presentation and everyone takes you seriously and takes notes :
So many questions ...like how did they keep the log ends together. In wet, dry weather, swamps ...
There are these straw things with balls in and you need to put it in some milk and it’s kinda like nesquick but with a straw so yeah we’ll need those for the next live
I wonder why there hasn't been a Thomas fan story based on the blueprint and line that Lexi sang?
Poor Terence at least he’s at work
haha lol
What about Bash Dash and Ferdinand ?
@@piyushkanthak1087 they didn’t show up in the video so we don’t know
If my ask why are there ww2 German soldiers in the image at 1:59
My guess would be it was the only inage of a pole road turntable that could be found.
God forbid the players of Railroads Online see this. I can only imagine what they're going to beg for next.
Wow that’s amazing
Pretty clever.
At 2:30 the engine is a Mack truck
Lost Woods, nice.
IIRC this wasn’t a new idea: it was done for the original UK tramways and done multiple times afterward until standardized use of iron and steel tracks was done
Could you do this for cheap most likely temporary tram lines for public transport.
i don't think so, you woud need special Trains hauled in and then you would need also quite many logs hauled in that not "standing" around since i thing the City council might have something against cutting there Trees
Also: while fine for a slow moving Worktrain that was cobbled together a 100 years ago, but i doubt that even in a country that value it's normal citizens that less than the US, that might be a "bit" unsafe
Particular if there are "already" the option of moveable railways like from Peat extraction or the like
bus technology nowdays are good enough and wildly available to ever make that a consideration
interesting.
Thank you.
Fun fact some Shay locomotives did run on pole roads
Speaking about this merely as an engineering standpoint, why didn't they knurl the log wheels so that they'd bite down as they rolled along? Or use strategic metal gear racks and cogs for steeper gradients?
Just curious. : )
Improvised engineering is the best kind of engineering
The Steam Engines Are Awesome I Like It
did the Decauville track system ever made it to the US?
As surplus, I have heard of it being used on farms out on the west coast after the Great War.
very interesting!
That's so cool xD
This really puts a new meaning to derail.
Low budget mines used sawn lumber with a metal strap on top as a wear surface.
The concept of these pole roads is the very same concept that the Egyptians used with Palm tree trunks to move stones to build the pyramids
I wanna build one in my yard now
Gives a new meaning to a “logging railroad"
"I knew I guy who was built to run on logs" - Lexi from Journey Beyond Sodor
Timber demand has gone up.
Those trains were made in Nashville, TN
how did the go around corners ???
Wait what? Wood consumption is high as never before!
This is insanity. I never knew this was a thing
Steel rails dont grow on trees now. So what will we use? If only we COULD grow rails....
The legend of Zelda : the logging railway .
Ho modelers: now how can I make this
Nice use of the music from Zelda ocarina of time.
A road make out of fuckin logs
🎵Too many funnels, or too many cogs,
We knew a guy, who used to run on logs.🎵
🎵Too many wheels, and gears, and rods,
It's no wonder that we look so odd!🎵
I like offroad trains!
At least they got the job done
I want to build a Pole-road now for no reason
We knew a guy who used to run on logs
Lexi 2017
Lexi- "We know a guy who was bult to run on logs."
is that the legend of zelda ocarina of time music i am hearing in the background?
Was that music from Zelda?
The other option was very light narrow gauge railways…
This would be an interesting engine to see in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
The closest was the blueprint from JBS.
Bash Dash and Ferdinand
I don't see why, there's no reason for such an engine to exist on Sodor. Like many of the asinine additions made in the later years.
If that's N company's (I shall not speak their name lest I summon their wrath) music I hear in the background, may want to get rid of that lol. Personally I love hearing FTL's (Faster Than Light game OST) music in videos and they're real chill
I might be doing this here soon I need a good way to get lumber to my 1888 frick sawmill and I don't want to install a road and lose multiple acres of my hay land soooo mini railroad it is so I only use a third of the area a driveway will take up
If you're willing to put the investment in for steel rails you could use the same type of flat steel stock the channel Way out west is employing to move wood around into their drying sheds and charcoal kiln, the track consists of lengths of flat steel bar stock with holes drilled to have bolts placed through holes in similarly dsrilled short steel tube stock pegs which are hammered into drilled holes in small wooden ties, small bolted fishplates are used to join the bar rails, and the flexible bar stock allows one to form curves and rearrange the layout without too much difficulty. The flanged wheels are a round steel plate welded to a strip butt-welded into a tubular shape, fitted to tubular axles running in oiled wooden bearings which are fitted to fairly plain two-axle wooden carts but I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange a larger bogie flatbed. You could probably replace the rails entirely with these kinds of poles, but it really depends on your particular circumstances.
@CATASTEROID I've been subscribed to him for awhile I love his tracks but I'm starting from nothing so.... his design has to be next step up start small and work up from there
@@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695 fancy that, what a coincidence! If you start building keep me posted, I’m interested to see your solutions to the engineering problems
@@CATASTEROID934 I intend on posting on the diy engineering I encounter it's fun to build stuff
@@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695 that would be really interesting to watch