Logging in Maine (Portland, Waterville, Yarmouth: sales, credit, how much)

[7th generation]

With the shutdown of #15 machine in Rumford, Western Maine's paper industry is in trouble.
Log driving in Maine:

YouTube - Logging in Maine

YouTube - Loggers 1906

YouTube - Logging: A Concise History

YouTube - Woodsmen and River Drivers

YouTube - Kennebec Log drive

YouTube - Log Drive Miramichi 1930

YouTube - old logging film
Mechanized:

YouTube - Timberpro TB630 with Log Max 7000

YouTube - Offroad logging

YouTube - Timberjack Walking Machine

[tcrackly]

Reminds me of "From Stump to Ship", the documentary about Downeast loggers. I think some of DH relatives are in that one. Times are a changin'.

[fxtrader]

We used to have several family members in the logging industry and are down to one. I can't believe all of the mills that have closed within the last 10 to 20 years.

[Maine Writer]

Remember all the talk of a paperless society 20 years ago? It's finally getting here.

Mills are closing and cutting back in large part to credit problems. With the economy in its current state, customers are losing their letters of credit. If they can't buy mills can't produce.

[AustinB]

Hardly real logging... but I fixed up my woods road and was able to cut about 1/2 cord of wood this morning.

It's amazing how much damage a skidder can do to the ground. It made it almost impassable for my small farm tractor. Corduroy roads are some nice.

[BrokenTap]

When I worked for the railroad 3 years ago a Rumford Papermill Employee pretty near thumped me, started yelling and calling me names. You see part of the problem is not production or sales but actually shipping the finished paper out. He said the railroad was supposed to provide 21 empty box cars a day for them to fill, at that time they were getting 3. They tried to haul by truck instead of trains, but there is just no way. Too far and too expensive when it takes 5 trucks for one train car.

The papermill in Old Town was the same way. I am not saying the railroads are to blame, but it is one part of the equasion. When I was there it would often take 10-12 hours to get a train from Portland to Waterville. Now come on, that should take 5 hours tops (with a train). There is no reason it should take that long. But the owner is just waiting for the Government to hand him a check to fix up the tracks because he's not going to pay for it.

Its a scam really. We need a better railroad system to get out what little we do mine, log and manufacture, but as long as that owner is in charge of the railroad here, it will never happen.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

When I worked for the railroad 3 years ago a Rumford Papermill Employee pretty near thumped me, started yelling and calling me names. You see part of the problem is not production or sales but actually shipping the finished paper out. He said the railroad was supposed to provide 21 empty box cars a day for them to fill, at that time they were getting 3. They tried to haul by truck instead of trains, but there is just no way. Too far and too expensive when it takes 5 trucks for one train car.

The papermill in Old Town was the same way. I am not saying the railroads are to blame, but it is one part of the equasion. When I was there it would often take 10-12 hours to get a train from Portland to Waterville. Now come on, that should take 5 hours tops (with a train). There is no reason it should take that long. But the owner is just waiting for the Government to hand him a check to fix up the tracks because he's not going to pay for it.

Its a scam really. We need a better railroad system to get out what little we do mine, log and manufacture, but as long as that owner is in charge of the railroad here, it will never happen.

Good post Brokentap. People do not realize just how bad the tracks are in Maine. I know of a place in North Yarmouth where the rail bed has been undermined to within a few feet of the tracks. The train has to pass by at less then 5 mph through that area. You don't get far at 5 mph! The railroads KNOW they can't handle 22 cars a day from one mill. They need to keep the trains short enough to pass these bad areas in a reasonable length of time without holding up traffic at the crossings too long.

[GarlicGuy]

I have one brother still working the woods. Gets up 1am every day for a 2 hour drive. Long haul considering he lives up near Mooshead

[mollysmiles]

TRACKS??? YOU guys HAVE TRACKS??

Must be nice... something cool like that could make a h*ll of a difference in shipping for Eastport. What does a community have to do to get them fancy tracks? Right now the trucks bring the product into Eastport from the mill in Woodland and it's shipped out. Can you guess how many truckloads it takes to fill the hold of a ship?

Oh, wait, our tracks were pulled up years ago... now I remember... oh, and there's going to be some fancy biking/hiking path from Machias to Calais on the railbed--after the ties are all removed of course. I'm so grateful--that path is sure gonna be a big boost to Washington County's economic development. H*ll, we might even get a few more people in the hotels and B&Bs. I'm really *not* as bitter as all that sounds, but I have to say that foresight would be great thing to have, rather than hindsight.

[AustinB]

The ripping up of the RR tracks is a very short sighted thing to do. There won't be very many eco tourists hiking,riding along and through the swamps that lead to Machais.