: 394įlume sites were mostly in rough, undeveloped wilderness. The main disadvantage of the light construction was they were damaged more easily by fire, floods, wind, and falling timber. And they took up less space, fitting inside narrower canyons where there wasn’t room for a railroad. They could span gulches using much lighter trestles. However, flumes had several advantages to logging railroads in steep terrain. įlume routes were surveyed by engineers using the same methods as a railroad survey. The high trestle on the Sanger Flume was over 300 feet (91 m) tall. Feeder troughs resupply water on long routes.
PUYALLUP FAIR 2015 LOG FLUME RIDE FREE
Flume boxes are built tight with lumber free of knots to prevent leaks. : 16 The head directs the flow of water into the top of the flume. Often, a log pond or artificial reservoir serves this purpose. Log flumes need a steady supply of water. Soon, log flumes spread across the mountains of the western United States as artificial rivers that brought lumber to market. The 15 miles (24 km) route was between Lake Tahoe and Reno, terminating at the Virginia and Truckee Railroad terminus in Washoe Valley. The v-shaped trough brought a half-million feet of lumber daily from the eastern Sierra Nevada to the Comstock Lode.
Haines built the first successful lumber flume in 1859. Today, log flumes remain in the popular imagination as amusement park rides. The logging truck replaced both the logging railroad and the flume after WWII. They could span long distances across chasms with more lightweight trestles.įlumes remained in widespread use through the early 20th century. Flumes were cheaper to build and operate than logging railroads. Logging operations preferred flumes whenever a reliable source of water was available. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century.
A sawmill with log flume, Cascade Range, USAĪ log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water.
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