LOGGING IX THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 203 
hewing and placing the caps and stringers, and the cost of the 
material. The trestles averaged about 8 feet in height, the bents 
being spaced 15 feet apart. The penetration of the piles was about 
15 feet. Five thousand feet of lumber were used in the bracings, 
which cost $14 per thousand feet; 41,400 feet of piling, caps, and 
stringers were used, which cost $0.03 per linear foot delivered along 
the right of way. 
The cost of labor for laying track was high, because 85 per cent 
of the line consisted of heavy curves with short tangents between. 
Fifty-six-pound steel was used. About 3,000 ties were laid to the 
mile. All bridges were double guard-railed ; all curves single guard- 
railed. The foreman was paid $3.50 per day; the laborers, $2 per 
day. 
The track was surfaced with from 12 to 15 inches of broken-rock 
ballast. This was blasted out of a pit, broken, and loaded by hand, 
so that it was very expensive. 
MAINTENANCE OF WAY. 
Section screws are employed to keep the road ballasted up, main- 
tain the gauge, keep the ditches open, replace broken or decayed ties, 
and to make any other repairs that are necessary. The cost of this 
work per thousand feet depends on several factors. The following 
are the most important : 
(a) The cost per 1,000 feet is higher the greater the length of 
line in use. 
(b) The volume of timber hauled per year is a factor which oper- 
ators can very easily overlook at the start, and which market condi- 
tions may make it difficult to control during the life of the operation. 
Ordinarily operators arrange for sufficient timber to enable them to 
write off the cost of railroad construction economically. The sup- 
ply of timber does not, however, automatically take care of the 
maintenance of way, since this cost is distinct from railroad con- 
struction. While an exceedingly heavy traffic possibly requires more 
of an expenditure to keep a railroad in condition, there is no ques- 
tion that a small volume of traffic requires more proportionately. 
Because of this, the tendency is to increase the annual cut as the 
length of haul increases. Moreover, the recognition of this fact by 
the industry is one of the reasons why operators continue to run 
after market conditions suggest that they should close down. 
(c) The maintenance cost in some cases is unnecessarily high be- 
cause the road was poorly constructed in the beginning, the result 
being that the construction of the road really continues throughout 
the life of the operation. The tendency at the present time is to 
build better logging railroads. 
