Forest railway operations in Comandău, Romania (Photograph from 1996)

A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felled logs to sawmills or railway stations.

In most cases this form of transport utilised narrow gauges, and were temporary in nature, and in rough and sometimes difficult to access terrain.

History

Before the railway was invented, logs were transported in large numbers from the forest down rivers either freely or on wooden rafts. This was not without its problems and wood was often damaged in transit, lost in floods or stranded in shallow water. Suitable rivers were often unavailable in mountainous terrain.

Shay locomotive on an American forest railway (Harbor Springs Railway)

Tourist trains and narrow gauge museum at the Kemence Forest Museum Railway.

Simple wagonways, using horses and wooden rails, were used from the 18th century. However the invention of the steam locomotive and steel rails soon led to these being employed for forestry. However the difficult terrain within forests meant that narrow-gauge railways, which took up less space, were lighter and easier to build and enabled tight curves to be laid, were preferred. These were the so-called forest railways. In particularly large areas of forest or forests of unusually large trees, such as in the northwestern USA, extensive forest railways were even built using standard gauge exclusively for forestry tasks. Special geared locomotives such as the Shay and Climax locomotive were developed for high tractive effort on rough track. Some forest railways became common carriers when cleared forest land was converted to agricultural or recreational use.

Perdido, a steam pole road locomotive

In cases where the railway itself was considered very short-term, or the region was extremely difficult to access, logs would often be laid into the ground as a pole road, rather than the cost and logistics of laying steel rails and sleepers. Pole roads could be extensive; several examples in the southeastern United States extended up to 20 miles (32 km) at the end of the nineteenth century, and used purpose-built steam locomotives.^[1]

In addition to steam traction, diesel and petrol-driven locomotives were also used later on. These largely brought animal-hauled transportation to an end on the forest railways. Also common were routes that just used gravity. Wagons loaded with wood would simply roll downhill in a controlled fashion under the pull of gravity. Foresters also travelled on these, at some risk to their lives on occasions – as brakemen. Empty wagons were hauled uphill again by horses.

From the second half of the 20th century forest railways were threatened by road transportation and by the end of the 1960s they had practically disappeared from western Europe. Roads were often laid in their place on the old trackbeds.

In a few Eastern European countries forest railways survived longer, particularly in Russia where there are still some today. In Hungary too there are several forest railways in active service today, some are also used for tourist traffic. The numerous forest railway operations in Romania were closed, with a few exceptions, by the 1990s. In Western Europe there are very few which are even preserved as museum railways.

In Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) the history and fate of logging tramways/forest railways is similar to Europe, with most lines either converted to motorised truck transport or closing down in the 1960s. Significant numbers of locomotives and other remnants of the former lines are found in museums and museum railways in Australia.

Forest railways in Europe

Hungary

Ticket vending at a station on the Nagybörzsöny Forest Railway

Romanian forest railway loco on the Steyrtalbahn

• Almamellék Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Csömödér Forest Railway, active forest railway and tourist trains
• Debrecen Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Felsőtárkány National Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Gemenc State Forest Railway, active forest railway and tourist trains
• Mátravasút, (Gyöngyös) tourist trains
• Kaszó Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Kemence Forest Railway, tourist trains and narrow gauge museum
• Királyrét Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Lillafüred Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Mesztegnyő Forest Railway, (forest railway ceased 1999) tourist trains
• Nagybörzsöny Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Pálháza Forest Railway, tourist trains
• Szilvásvárad Forest Railway, Szilvásvárad, tourist trains

Russia

Russian loco TU6A with a log train on the Udimskaya Forest Railway

• Alapayevsk narrow-gauge railway, passengers and tourist trains
• Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Belorucheiskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Kobrinskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Konetsgorskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Kudemskaya narrow-gauge railway, passengers and tourist trains
• Loyginskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Nyubskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Lundanskaya narrow gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Oparinskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Pizhemskaya narrow gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Sharya Forest Museum Railway, passengers and tourist trains
• Udimskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry
• Zelennikovskaya narrow-gauge railway, active forest railway used for forestry

Logging railroads in North America

A logging railroad describes railroads, pole roads, tram roads, or similar infrastructure used to transport harvested timber from a logging site to a sawmill. Logging railroads vary in gauge and length, with most forested regions of the world supporting a railroad of this type at some point.

While most railroads of this variety were temporary, it was not uncommon for permanent railroads to take their place as a complement to logging operations or as an independent operation once logging ended.

Forest railways in Asia

Forest railways in Oceania

Other railways for the transport of goods

• Field railways (see: Feldbahn) for the transportation of rural produce; also originally for military use as well
• Harbour or port railways for loading and unloading goods within a port
• Industrial railways for transporting goods from factories
• Hallig railways for transporting coastal defence materiel.
• Bush tramways in New Zealand, see West coast trams in New Zealand
• Light railway
• Military railways (see also: Heeresfeldbahn) for transporting military supplies and troops
• Mining railways for ore transportation
• Tramway (industrial)
• Wagonway
• Rail transport

Notes

Sources

• Manfred Hohn, Waldbahnen in Österreich, Verlag Slezak 1989, ISBN 3-85416-148-4
• L.Reiner/H.Beiler/R.Sliwinski, Die Spiegelauer Forest Railway, Ohetaler Verlag Riedlhütte 2005, ISBN 3-937067-14-0
• Friedemann Tischer, Die Muskauer Waldeisenbahn, Verlag Kenning, Nordhorn 2003, ISBN 3-933613-63-9

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forest railways.

• Overview of forest railways in Slovakia
• Photos from the Spiegelau Forest Railway today