A bit more about the flat cars. There are about 30 cars.
The Timber Heritage group purchased 10, the remaining cars were gifted. There are both log cars, with bunks and lumber cars with stake pockets (as well as a couple of odd ball cars mixed in like a home made ballast car and a steel flat). They are stored at the site of a former lumber landing in Eureka CA
These were built for/by The Pacific Lumber Company of Scotia. There are some published photographs of similar cars in use as early as 1910. The company ran log trains in part over the tracks of the North Western Pacific using wood frame cars until 1977. Several of the cars have 1974 rebuild dates stenciled on them.
Condition varies from reasonable, would be willing to move it on its own wheels (not of course on a FRA regulated railroad) to very poor condition.
There is a great deal of variation from car to car, but all have AB brakes… Trucks are a mixed set of arch bar, of several styles, with some Andrews style trucks. I found trucks marked as having 4 ¼ x8 and 5 ½ x 10 bearings… The group believes many of the brasses have been stolen. As best I could tell they all have 33” wheels… I understand that the wheels are a mix of mostly chilled iron cast wheels. The couplers vary, with at least some marked Sharon. There are some split knuckles for link and pins. Size varies a bit. All seem to have spring style draft gear held by wood draft timbers.
The truss rods are mostly if not all double truss rods, with a really nice set of castings used.
The organization that holds them is planning on keeping the best 10-12 along with some of the odd cars (the ballast car for example). They will likely scrap the rest. They would like to get scrap value for the stuff. (they are currently getting about $150 a ton)
They are on a short time line to move stuff (and are making good headway) Originally they had to be out by January 1st, but that date has slipped by at least a couple of months, but it appears there is a hard scrap deadline of about June 1.
The group is mostly loggers with lots of machinery knowledge, and almost no railroad knowledge so if you have a question it should be accompanied by photos.
A couple of observations... There is almost no narrow gauge or narrow gauge adaptable parts available. (there are fragments of a couple of 44” gauge log cars and one 36” gauge wheel set, all spoken for) There is no K brake stuff, all AB.
When these cars were originally built the adjoining NWP was Santa Fe controlled, for most of the time the cars were in use the NWP was SP controlled… There is likely at least some castings or technology (as in truss rods or couplers) from those lines in the piles of stuff.
We also visited their primary site at the Somoa which includes a round house and two machine shop buildings… no track, no turntable (for most of its life the round house didn’t have a turntable) There steam locomotives (two shays, a Heisler converted to diesel) and several rod engines…) are all inside, and show none of the start then abandoned restoration styles so frequently found in sizable locomotive collections. They also on a 0-4-0t a 44 tonner and a large logging rod engine stored in Strasburg PA
More photos at
https://picasaweb.google.com/RandyHees/TimberHeritage?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Randy