Logging operations using shays

I'm adding a 2ft logging operation to the timber ridge line and during my investigations came across this interesting article
http://www.buffalocreekandgauley.com/OPERATIONS/ERCLOps/ERCLOps.html

it has lots of images of the general destruction of the forest which only has limited resources to create in the game. I've been revamping my log trash textures , but probably the hardest images to find are deep muddy ruts and piles of brush. Ability to get items to rotate xyz is also super important in these sort of assets.although there are lots of cut logs, there aren't many irregular log trash items to use and some of the dead tree assets are showing their age.
i have seen people state that shays were capable of 13% grades but will try to keep the zig zag inclines below this, the little 2ft shay has no problems zipping up this sort of incline with a load of three cars .any other links to logging lines would be appreciated so I can get this as close to prototype as possible.

I think I can help you with this. What size of logging operation are you looking for?

I can state for a fact that shays can do up to 13% grades, but ,like any train, the steeper gradients force smaller trains. 3 cars shouldn't be a problem on that, even for a little 2ft gauge Shay.

flyboy559 said:

I think I can help you with this. What size of logging operation are you looking for?

I can state for a fact that shays can do up to 13% grades, but ,like any train, the steeper gradients force smaller trains. 3 cars shouldn't be a problem on that, even for a little 2ft gauge Shay.

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its not very big, couple of miles at the most, it has about 6 zigzags in very hilly terrain . this image shows it more or less in total

One of my favorite books is The Mt Tamalpais Rwy - the Crookedest Railroad In the World, it had hardly any straight track, 281 curves, which make 42 complete circles in 8.5 miles of track, and was a very steep tourist RR in the Muir Woods, and was a gravity downhill rollercoaster RR, they had several heisler and shay locos.

MP242 said:

One of my favorite books is The Mt Tamalpais Rwy - the Crookedest Railroad In the World, it had hardly any straight track, 281 curves, which make 42 complete circles in 8.5 miles of track, and was a very steep tourist RR in the Muir Woods, and was a gravity downhill rollercoaster RR, they had several heisler and shay locos.

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These sort of lines with extreme grades and curves fascinate me as they are so much fun to make , I did intend to build the Argentine central after completing the uintah ( years to go yet on completing that ) as they would have dovetailed nicely into each other as they both used the same shays , uintah bought the shays when the AC went bust , but the demise of Ben Dorsey and trainboi finding other locos to build , put a stop to that happening in the next year or so . Perhaps when I release the uintah it might spur the young master loco builder into action on that front co71, has now built many houses that could be used on the Argentine central it’s mainly a lack of rolling stock that would make it hard to create a prototype

Looks like a pretty cold climate. Close to the camp, there would be almost no scrap wood laying around as nearly all of it would have been picked up and burned in camp to keep the buildings warm and to fuel the steam donkeys. The switchbacks (zig zags) look like the tail tracks are pretty short.

flyboy559 said:

Looks like a pretty cold climate. Close to the camp, there would be almost no scrap wood laying around as nearly all of it would have been picked up and burned in camp to keep the buildings warm and to fuel the steam donkeys. The switchbacks (zig zags) look like the tail tracks are pretty short.

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yeah they need extending a bit they only just fit the engine and three cars.As its early days I'm still playing around with the track. i think these tail tracks often would be on an fairly steep incline to help slow down runaways.

Best book on railroad logging is "Railroads in the Woods" by Goe.

dangavel said:

yeah they need extending a bit they only just fit the engine and three cars.As its early days I'm still playing around with the track. i think these tail tracks often would be on an fairly steep incline to help slow down runaways.

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It wouldn't help much with runaways, but longer tail tracks give you space to build up more speed for the next part of the climb. The length of the track has always been limited by terrain though.