LOGGING IK THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 225 
straight line and had a maximum grade of 30 per cent, two cars 
were lowered at a trip, 40 cars being lowered in a day. 
The operating labor cost per thousand feet varies, of course, with 
the average amount of timber lowered on the incline per day, the 
total daily labor cost being to a great extent fixed. The total daily 
labor jcost amounts to about $13 per day, as follows : 
Per day. 
1 engineer $3.50 
1 fireman 2. 75 
1 brakeman 3. 50 
1 brakeman__ 3. 25 
Total 13. 00 
The life of the lowering line is not known, since no lines have been 
worn out so far. One line has been used to lower 50,000,000 feet, 
and it seems that it is not more than one-half worn out. 
The fixed investment in the incline equipment proper is approxi- 
mately as follows: 
Lowering engine, together with the sled and small equipment 
used around the engine $7, 350 
Lowering car 1, 500 
Set of rollers 500 
12,000 feet lKnch cable 3,500 
Miscellaneous equipment 200 
Total 13, 050 
UNLOADING. 
Logs as a rule are unloaded, or dumped, into mill ponds, streams, 
or tidewater. Very small operators sometimes unload logs to, and 
store small quantities on, the land. The latter is a very unusual prac- 
tice in the fir region of the Pacific coast. 
A number of different methods are used. Only two principles, 
however, are involved. The logs may be pushed from cars, or in con- 
nection with a superelevated track they may be pulled from the cars 
by gravity. 
As a rule, cars are unloaded by means of a rollway, or dump, and 
an unloading machine. When the logs are dumped into a mill pond 
or stream, the dump, serving as a part of the railroad track, is gen- 
erally built along the bank. To dump logs into tidewater it is nec- 
essary to extend the track over the water. 
The aim of all operators, of course, is to unload logs as cheaply as 
possible. The cost of this step, however, must be considered in con- 
nection with the cost of other steps in the logging operations. In 
other words, a nice balance should exist between the total cost of un- 
loading logs and the total cost of transporting the logs from the 
landings to the dump and the cost of booming and sorting. This is 
61361°— Bull. 711—18 15 
