Alan Sewell's sunset of the Longview system...
It was a post here talking about Switchers and my own love of the SW1500 that prompted Alan to get in touch, and I've been sitting on these photos for several months...
However, I'm keen to make his material more widely available to help us all as modellers with inspiration, as well as some specific detail. Whilst this doesn't form the usual 'visit report' style of entry I think the photographs and reflections are still valuable - thanks Alan.
When I visited the Weyerhaeuser Longview mill in 2015 switching operations had been contracted to Patriot Rail, with operations now centred on switching the mills, Mint Farm industrial park and making the run to the Longview Switching (LVSW) yard. Traffic included inbound chips and chemicals and outbound pulp and paper and dimensioned lumber. Some coal (to be mixed with wood chips) is also handled but most came by road as did most log traffic.
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| Alan Sewell photo |
The working locos were two ex-Weyerhaeuser SW1500 302 and 311 built in 1970 and rebuilt in 1998 working in multiple. They were using the Columbia & Cowlitz wide vision caboose #5. This was still in use as mobile protection for the crew who do not then have to ride the cars in all weathers around what is an extensive system. The locos were making up the evening interchange train in the CLC yard, and then left to work the pulp mill chemical plant.
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| Alan Sewell photo |
The tracks behind fence in the photos are those of the Longview Switching company formerly International Paper’s Longview Portland and Northern RR. In the H0 world they are the tracks of my Hartford & Cowlitz RR and 10 miles behind the photographer’s/my back would be the mythical mill town of Jennis.
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| Alan Sewell photo |
This is the latest in a series of blog posts based upon material Alan has kindly provided. It is wonderful to be able to share that with you all. Until next time, more soon...
Hi James
ReplyDeleteNice to see the photos on your blog.
I visited Weyerhaeuser’s operations at Longview three times (in 1989,1999 and 2015) and my friend the late John Henderson visited many more ( probably eight to ten times per year) from the 1980’s until the early 2000’s. I did make notes of my visits and John sent me many pages of his observations.
As many may know the Longview Branch as it was called was a huge operation with some of the biggest sawmills in the world, a pulp and later paper plant, a large plywood mill and other woods products plants. The logging railroad mainline was forty miles long but with branches to at least three reloads and with a 5% grade down into Longview used in the steam era articulated locos including two 2-8-8-2’s. In the diesel era trains were powered by up to five units ( or motors as they were known) In addition two to four locos worked the mill and the company had its own shortline the Columbia and Cowlitz to handle switching and haul finished product to the mainline at Kelso.
Operations changed in the early 1980’s with the eruption of Mt St Helens which wiped out both timber and some of the railroad. However it was/is one of the inspirations for my modelling although in any space I would have available that has to be very compressed and I feel now my model railroad is part Longview and part Shelton (home of the late lamented Simpson timber operations and railroad) but cannot be a reproduction of either.
I am sure if there was any interest I could turn my notes into another blog post
Best regards
Alan
I'm sure people would find that of interest, perhaps even if published in Trains or Railfan magazine?
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