Up until the time that there were no more cypress and pine trees left in the
everglades, virtually all logging used sectional track. If you look at old
aerial photographs of the everglades, you see what would look like "bird
feathers" in the swamp. A branch line like the quill of the feather) was
laid through the center of a stand of trees. Radials would be laid out from
each side (of the quill) so that the trees could be cut and then drug to the
just laid lines to be loaded on flats. Once those trees were cut and loaded,
the track sections were picked up and loaded on flats and the next line
would be laid and the timber cut.
For the most part, the cranes were rather rickety home built jobbers working
on wood fired boilers. They were usually not self propelled, but were
shunted in and out with 2-6-2 Prairie locomotives.
I happened to acquire the bell from one of those Prairie log loco's - it's
one of three bells and close to 27 whistles I've managed to acquire.
Keep your steam up!
Mr. Lunkenheimer's associate
Walt
