Narration and Selected Stills from the Video

Logging by Rail in Algonquin Park

Page 10.

The trams were pushed down tramway docks and into the yard where the lumber was piled. The twenty foot high tramways were slightly inclined to assist the men in pushing the lumber on the long trip to the appropriate piles. In the lumber yard, east of the mill, upwards of 15 million board feet of prime lumber were stored for air drying and waited to be sold and shipped.

The lumber was piled from the ground to the tramway and up to twenty feet above. In September 1931, the first serious blow to Fossmill’s existence came. This yard was consumed by a devastating fire. A wind shift saved the mill from destruction but not before several workers' homes were destroyed.

The skilled pilers carefully stacked and spaced the lumber so that it would dry evenly, straight, and without warping. Lumber was back piled, two deep using rollers. Pilers wore protective heavy leather aprons and gloves.

Lumber was selected, tallied, and loaded, one piece at a time into a waiting box car on a siding.

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