LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 179 
minimum carload established by the railway company. The next 
year this company, through more careful loading, kept the actual 
rate equal to the quoted rate, This was not easy, however. The log- 
ging superintendent found that the loaders did not see or appreciate 
the effect of underloads on the actual rate and in turn on the cost of 
Jogging. The mere telling the loaders to be sure to put the minimum 
carload on a car did not remedy the evil, neither did discharging the 
loaders. It was only when the superintendent, with the scaler, 
worked with the loaders, pointing out the underloads on the ground 
and demonstrating by mathematics the increased cost of transporta- 
tion per thousand feet because of specific underloads, that the evil 
of the underload wss gotten away from. 
As a rule, logging operators pay for log transportation on the 
basis of the railroad company's scale. This scale in most cases ap- 
proaches a gross scale, while the logging operator sells his logs and 
estimates his logging cost on the basis of a net scale. Where the logs 
are sound, the difference between the quoted and actual rate is small. 
In some cases, however, the difference amounts to considerable. One 
operator, shipping on a quoted rate of $1.25 per thousand feet, found 
that the cost actually amounted to $1.55; another company, shipping 
on a quoted rate of $1.50 per thousand feet, actually paid $1.85 per 
thousand feet. 
LOGGING RAILROADS. 
LOCATION. 
The locating of the main-line railroad and primary spurs is the 
most important step in the logging operation. Failure to open up 
9 tract of timber at the right point may spell failure. Mistakes in 
connection with other steps can be corrected. It is not so in the case 
of the railroad location. 
In general the location and character of a logging railroad depend 
on the amount of timber it is to handle and the time it is to be op- 
erated. The longer any railroad is to be used and the heavier the 
traffic, the better it should be constructed. In any case, the cost of 
construction should be the smallest amount consistent with reasonable 
operating and maintenance costs. Logging railroads are invariably 
constructed more cheaply than even branch trunk lines, a shorter 
operating period making heavier grades, sharper curves, and a poor 
roadbed practical. The amount of traffic that is to pass over the 
main line and each of the spurs, the total rise and fall which must be 
overcome (as indicated by a topographic map or a careful reconnais- 
sance), and the speed with which the timber is to be removed are 
guiding factors in deciding on the character of roadbed that should 
be built and the kind and amount of motive power that should be 
used. 
