Mr. F. W. Chriswell, Chief Engineer,
Seattle Car & Foundry Co.,
Seattle, Washington
Dear Sir:
Mr. Horton our Secretary has requested me to write you of our
experience with the connected logging trucks which we have been
using for the last three or four years.
In a general way I might classify this under two heads,
construction and operation. Regards to construction of these cars
will say, while they are seemingly light, we have found them very
strong, and more serviceable in our logging than flat cars which
we had previously used and are still using. The air equipment
as arranged in these cars is very well protected, and we have
experienced practically no trouble whatsoever from breakage. Due
to the construction of these cars with their three sills as the
only woodwork, we have found the cost of maintenance very little,
perhaps due to a certain extent to the accessibility of the parts,
which permit of a thorough inspection by simply walking past the
car. In operating, we have found these cars exceptionally adapted
to the hauling of logs, and during our four years experience do not
recall an instance where the load has been spilled due to any fault
of the bunk or blocks. Our cars, of which we have twenty-four in
operation, are built on twenty-four foot truck centers with nine
and ten foot bunks, and during the last year and a half we have
lost but one log except through derailment. We find that these cars
seemingly ride easier than the seven flat cars which we have in
service, permit of a larger load and carry their loads to better
advantage. These cars are easily loaded, and it is not uncommon
that we haul nine and ten thousand feet to the car. Our loads will
average between seven and eight thousand feet per car. All of the
trainmen who have worked on these cars, and the loaders in the
woods like them very much. The fact that they are easy to load
leads the loaders to put on a good load on them and in a careful
manner, and in an all around way will consider them very much
superior to the flat cars we are using, being seven in number of
the standard logging type.
Any further information which I may be able to give you and which
you may desire, will be furnished with pleasure upon request.
Very truly yours,
GEO. N. PECK,
General Superintendent
_This Letter is Typical of Dozens We Have Received_
[Illustration: Old Style Standard Skeleton Car with Timber Bunk and
Automatic Trip Pockets to Provide for the Use of High Stakes. Equipped
With Air.]