Narrow Gauge Gazette logo Jan/Feb 2021
Volume 46, No. 6

Feature

Self-Propelled Log Unloading Machines

Part 1: Early Home Built and Washington Iron Works Machines

by Peter J. Replinger / photos from the author’s collection

All the major donkey manufacturers offered log unloading machines in their catalogs. Before this occurred, however, a few of the bigger logging companies designed their own machines. These unloaders were equipped with just a “swamp hook” which was quite adequate for the big logs and small loads of the 1890s. The Deep River Logging Company of Naselle, the Port Blakely Mill Company of Kamilche, the Peninsular Railway of Shelton, and the Polson Logging Company of Hoquiam, all in Washington State, were a few of the companies that designed their own. These were designed to run down a track parallel to the unloading dock track which was usually tilted a few inches towards the water to aid in the unloading process.

Washington Iron Works of Seattle offered an unloading machine with a swinging boom which unloaded logs with the aid of a strap (cable) hooked to the water side of the dock, one for each car. This in effect “tight-lined” a whole load of logs off at an average rate of one minute per car. Known companies that operated these machines were: Capitol Boom Company of Olympia, the Peninsular Railway and later Simpson at Shelton, who owned at least two of these machines, and the Mud Bay Logging Company at Mud Bay, near Olympia, all in Washington State. The Capitol Boom and one of the Simpson machines lasted well into the Diesel age of the 1960s, still powered by steam.

This unloader was built in the Peninsular Railway shops in Shelton, Washington, in 1895, and served the company well into the 1930s.
The Polson Logging Company built this machine in their shops at Railroad Camp. It was used to dump logs into the Hoquiam River. Photo courtesy Rayonier Inc.
The Port Blakely Mill Company built this machine for dumping logs into Little Skookum Bay near Kamilche, Washington. The photo was taken in 1906. Note the “swamp hook.”
Washington Iron Works unloader at the Mud Bay Logging Company, at Mud Bay near Olympia, Washington.
One advantage of a Washington Iron Works unloader was the movable boom that could be swung to either side allowing it to serve two tracks. This new unloader is shown in 1924, while the Peninsular Railway is constructing a new three-track dock.
The author took this photo in 1964 of the Capitol Boom Company’s Washington Iron Works unloader at Olympia, Washington.
This Washington Iron Works unloader was photographed in 1960 on the Simpson Logging Company log dump. It lasted until 1962, when it was replaced by a Diesel unloader built on an old steam locomotive crane.

Return to Table of Contents