210 BULLETIN 711, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
able or stationary camps are used, and whether water for the log- 
ging engines will be hauled, pumped, or supplied by a gravity system. 
Labor cost. — A train crew is generally made up of an engineer, 
fireman, conductor, and brakeman. For a long train two brakemen 
may be employed. 
The following list is intended to approximate the wages — average, 
high, and low — paid the members of the train crews by the logging 
companies in the region during the past six years : 
Wages per day. 
Position. 
Average. 
High. 
Low. 
$4.00 
3.00 
3.50 
3.25 
$4.50 
3.25 
4.00 
3.50 
$3.75 
2.75 
3.25 
3.00 
The average cost per thousand feet varies greatly. For example, 
the labor cost per thousand feet for the operation of trains at 20 
camps in the Puget Sound region in 1913 was as follows : 
Number of camps : Cost per 1,000 feet. 
2 __, $0. 10-$0. 15 
4 , . 15- . 20 
10 .20- .25 
1 .25- .30 
1 .31 
1! . 40 
1 . 50 
Fuel. — A very considerable item in the cost of operation of logging 
railroads is the cost of fuel burned in the locomotives. The fuel may 
be wood, coal, or oil. Wood, as a rule, is not used when coal or oil can 
be secured at a reasonable price. 
- On account of the danger of setting fire with sparks from wood or 
coal, oil makes the most satisfactory fuel. In many cases it is also 
cheaper. It does not take so long to take on oil as wood or coal, which 
means a saving of some operating time. Then, a saving in fuel and 
water is effected, particularly on heavy grades, and the hauling ability 
is increased, because the steam pressure can be held at a desired point 
by increasing the oil feed under the boiler. It is not possible to do 
this with wood or coal, since merely opening and closing the fire box 
has a marked effect on the efficiency of the locomotive under strained 
conditions. While bituminous coal is possibly no more satisfactory 
than wood from the standpoint of the fire risk, it is preferred to wood 
when it can be secured at a reasonable price. Firemen prefer it be- 
cause the labor of firing it is not so exhausting. A more even fire can 
be maintained with it, and less time is lost in taking on coal than 
wood. 
