46 BULLETIN 440, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
trucks for both outfits, including blacksmi thing and supply expenses, 
amount to about $10 daily. The total daily cost is $56.70, or about 
94 cents per 1,000. This does not include road repairs. 
LOGGING RAILROADS. 
Steam logging railroads are the principal means of transporting 
logs from the woods to the mill. These all have steel rails, there 
being no pole roads or sawn wooden rails used. The principal reason 
for the wide use of railroads in logging in California is length of haul. 
Much of the pine timber is at a considerable distance from trunk line 
railroads, and heavy investments are required in lumber railroads or 
flumes. Large mills and heavy output are necessary to warrant these 
investments. In turn, large mill outputs require extensive logging 
operations, which necessitate long log hauls. The general topography 
of the region is rough and mountainous and the logs are too heavy to 
be handled except by steam. Stream driving is practically out of 
the question, both because the streams are rocky and difficult of 
improvement and because sugar-pine and white-fir butt logs will not 
float. Thus logging railroads are a necessity in practically ail 
operations of any size. 
Engineering. — The location of the logging railroad and its spurs is 
the most important part of the layout of an operation. The type of 
railroad and the route selected depend upon the period the railroad 
is to be operated and the amount of timber. The expense of con- 
struction should be the least that will serve the purpose required and 
at the same time permit of a reasonable cost of operation and main- 
tenance. The longer a road is to be used and the heavier the traffic, 
the better it can be constructed. Logging railroads are constructed 
more cheaply than even branch trunk line railroads, because the 
period of operation is shorter. Heavier grades, sharper curves, and 
poorer roadbed may be used. 
Topography is the principal factor influencing the location of 
logging railroads; but the general plan of logging determines whether 
they, especially branch lines, shall follow valleys, ridge faces, or the 
tops of ridges. One reason why the railroad layout for steam yarding 
differs from that for yarding by horses is that on steep ground yarding 
engines work more satisfactorily uphill. Main lines are necessarily 
located and constructed with greater care than spurs. Spurs are 
constructed wherever they are necessary to bring timber within 
chuting or yarding distance of the main track. The mileage depends 
upon the topography, maximum yarding distance, amount of chute 
hauling, and density of the stand. 
In chute logging the main line railroads are constructed along the 
streams, and chutes are relied upon to bring the timber down to them. 
Spurs are constructed only to reach chute landings which can not be 
