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An “Ice Railway” Locomotive

A device that has revolutionised the lumber industry of North America

A HEAVY LUMBER TRAIN. A pilot sits on the front of the locomotive steering the leading runners by means of a wheel.

ALTHOUGH the ordinary steel highway is harassed and often disorganised completely by the forces of winter, owing to the locomotive being unable to drive its way through the piled banks of snow, there is a certain type of “railway” which is inoperative unless the ground is snowbound and frozen.

This is the “ice railway”. Strictly speaking it is not a railway, since the vehicles do not run along a pair of metals. But at the same time it demands a defined track, the pathway being two parallel ruts. The locomotive is a hybrid, being a combination of the railway engine, traction engine and steam-driven automobile. The vehicles, instead of being carried on wheels, are mounted upon long runners which engage in and follow the ruts.

The “ice railway” has undergone considerable development during the past few years. It was created to meet the requirements of the lumbering industry. In this field of human activity the conditions are somewhat peculiar. The removal of the enormous logs brought down by the woodsman bristles with difficulties. The lumber-jack comes with the winter, when the ground is carpeted with snow two, three, or more feet in depth, and littered with huge drifts. Under such conditions ordinary systems of transportation are absolutely impracticable. Other industries which are isolated from the steel arteries of communication remedy such a defect by laying down a narrow gauge light line between their mills and the trunk roads. But in the lumbering districts of Canada and the United States such links of communication, even if provided, would be useless, as they would be snowed-up and impassable at the very time when traffic reaches its highest pressure.

The result is that in the lumbering trade horses and oxen play a very important part in hauling the timber from forest to mill, and from mill to railway. The logs, balks, boards, or what not, are piled on heavy sleds. But the movement is slow; the capacity of the train load is limited severely by the number and strength of the beasts available. Moreover, animal traction is expensive ; difficulties arise in connection with foraging; while the cost of maintenance is just as heavy when traffic is at a

standstill as during periods of activity, because the creatures must be fed, and well too, to keep them fit for their arduous labour.

ONE ENGINE OF THE ICE LOCOMOTIVE. Showing inverted cylinders and power transmission. A similar engine is mounted on the opposite side of the frame.

Realising the shortcomings of animal transportation, the Phoenix Manufacturing Company of Eau Claire contrived a locomotive which could be run over an ice track as easily as its prototype can be driven over the steel highway. With infinite labour, and after innumerable peculiar problems had been solved, an engine was contrived and sent up into the forests of Wisconsin to prove its worth; to show how far it could compete with animal methods; and to determine the extent of its application.

The experiment was a complete success; steam haulage over the ice-way proved so superior to the animals that a demand for these locomotives arose on all sides. The development was opportune. The demand for lumber was exceeding supply, and means of doubling and trebling the output with less expense were being sought diligently. The teams, as a rule, could not handle more than 1,500 feet of timber, even under the best conditions. Even then unremitting care had to be bestowed upon the roads, so as to keep them in the pink of condition to facilitate movement.

The ice locomotive revolutionised the situation. Bigger sleds could be built and loaded with three times as much lumber, while two or three such vehicles could be hitched to a single engine, which thus accomplished the work of 20 or 39 animals in half the time. The lumbering industries also discovered the significance of another item. The locomotive cost money only when it was performing useful service. When condemned to inactivity it did not “eat its head off”, as was the case with the animals.

The future of the ice locomotive was assured; the firm responsible for the creation found itself overwhelmed with orders. The engine was improved extensively as a result of experience acquired under practical conditions, and to-day these locomotives are found in all parts of the country, hauling formidable trains of sleds, each laden with 15,000 feet or more of timber.

The boiler, of the locomotive type, designed for a steam pressure of 200 lbs. per square inch, is 15 feet long by 36 inches in diameter, and is mounted upon a heavy reinforced channel iron frame. There is a large fire-box, adapted to burn either coal or wood. It is an easy steamer, and economic in coal consumption — a vital factor seeing that coal invariably is a costly item in the lumbering districts. Similarity to the railway engine is enhanced by the cab provided for the driver and the fireman.

The engine is carried upon a leading “ bogie ” having a couple of massive runners. On the front of the engine is a large wheel, with a seat, so that steering is carried out upon the broad lines of the automobile. The driving or traction device recalls the caterpillar tractor. There is a heavy iron shaft, 4§ inches in diameter, which carries on each side of the engine two weighty steel runners. A pair of massive boxes in which runs a heavy steel sprocket wheel is attached to each end of these runners. The sprockets mesh with, and carry, a tread or lag chain, 12 inches wide by 14 feet in length, which, securing a purchase upon the road surface, propels the locomotive. On the inner side of the chain-drive, and running in a steel channel attached to the underside of the steel shoe, are two roller chains. Each runner is fitted in this manner.

A BIG LOAD. The size of the stacks of sawn timber mounted upon each sled may be gathered from comparison with the crew.

The engine has four cylinders of 6¼ inches diameter by 8 inch stroke, two cylinders being disposed on each side, and bolted to the boiler and frame. Each pair of engines is fitted with link motion. The power is transmitted from the engine to the driving chains through a spur pinion mounted on the crank shaft, and a pinion mounted on the front end of the driving shafts. Bevel pinions are attached to the rear ends of these driving shafts, and these mesh with large bevel gears carried on the ends of the fixed shaft or rear axles. They also have spur gears, which transmit the power through the intermediate gearing to another spur gear mounted on the shaft to which the rear sprocket is keyed, this being the driven sprocket.

The locomotive is built on heavy lines so as to be able to withstand hard work. The cab fittings are of the usual railway locomotive type, with quadrant and lever for reversing. In running order the engine weighs about 19 tons, and with the steam pressure at 200 lbs. about 100 horse-power is developed. The average speed is from 4 to 5 miles per hour over a good track, though of course this feature is governed by the severity of the grades, curvature, and the load. Here, as in railway practice, the easier the grade and the more open the curves, the higher the speed and the heavier the load hauled. Under good conditions an engine can draw a train of 15 vehicles loaded with 5,000 to 7,000 feet of logs per sled. The train crew comprises three men — the driver, fireman, and the pilot or steersman. So far as fuel consumption is concerned, from 1¼ to 1½ tons of good steam coal will suffice for a 10-hour run. Water facilities have to be provided at intervals of five or six miles, and if this commodity is scarce then a tank wagon on runners similar to a tender is attached to the engine.

The vehicles themselves vary according to the prevailing conditions. If circumstances permit of the laying of a wide road, a gauge of 7 or 8 feet can be used to distinct advantage. The load stowed thereon may range from 10,000 to 20,000 feet. In such cases the over-all width of the load at the base may easily represent 16 feet, the logs being held in position by chains passed round the whole and tightened up to keep the load steady.

Successful operation is governed by the care expended upon the preparation of the road. A good track with easy banks and curves eases the strain upon the locomotive very considerably. When the snow has packed well and frozen hard, an excellent surface is offered, and the careful distribution of water over this surface, converting it to the semblance of a sheet of glass, especially in the ruts, enables heavy loads and good speed to be maintained with the minimum of wear and tear.

The work which can be accomplished by these powerful locomotives is astonishing. They may be seen puffing and snorting in the dense forests of the Middle and Western States and the backwoods of Canada. The heart of the Canadian lumber industry of Western Canada is around Prince Albert, where many of these little giants are at work. They may be seen toiling in a temperature ranging from 30 to 55 degrees below zero, drawing loads of 80,000 feet or more of green lumber over distances of 60 miles a day. Though the grades appear to be somewhat adverse, the train of seven sleds, large water tank, and caboose for the train crews, seems to make light of them. One lumbering firm in Minnesota, which has a 10-mile road, makes two round trips a day with a load of six vehicles, and accomplishes for £14, including an allowance of £3 per day for wear and tear, what would require 48 horses in twelve teams at a cost of £30.

At times these engines have to perform herculean work, especially when the country is swept by blizzards. Then the snow roads are buried beneath huge drifts, deep enough to swallow the engine. One firm had to hitch an improvised snowplough to the engine, and for 16 miles the train and crew had a stiff fight for every yard of the way. They turned round and found the snow had drifted just as badly, completely obliterating the road once more. It was another tedious drive over the 16 miles on the homeward jaunt, but the train got through, and only an hour or so behind her usual time. Some idea of the significance of this performance may be judged from the fact that on the railways traversing the self-same country, double-headers had to be used to get through the drifts, and even then the trains were running from four to twelve hours late.

At another camp, the train comprising from 7 to 10 sleds, had to work continuously day and night over a track about 18 miles in length, the crews being changed at the end of each round trip. In this case the one engine did the work of 72 horses, and during the season handled 2,500,000 feet of pine, 100,000 posts, 3,000 railway sleepers, 200 cords of pulp-wood, and some 50 sled-loads of provisions and other stock. The greatest difficulty that the lumbering interests experience in connection with these locomotives and trains is in regard to loading up. Not only are heavy delays incurred from this cause, owing to the scarcity of labour, but often the train has to start off with a lighter load than she could haul with ease.

Although this ice locomotive is virtually an asset of and peculiar to the North American continent, it has made its debut in Europe. An ice track has been laid down in Finland, and one of these imported engines has been put to work. This experiment is being followed closely by European interests, inasmuch as there is remarkable scope for such a system of transportation throughout the timber stretches of Russia and Siberia, where lumbering as an industry has achieved a higher stage of development than in the New World.

AN ICE TRAIN AT FULL SPEED. When the ice track is prepared carefully the train is able to make 8 miles an hour, with a load of 80,000 feet of lumber. On long journeys a water tank is attached to the engine.

You can read more on “The Conquest of Canada”, “Giant American Locomotives” and “Unconventional Locomotives” on this website.