Mt. Moosilauke (1901) - Forest History - William R. Park
". . . William R. Park, Jr., soon expanded his scope with the construction of two additional camps - No. 2, at the junction of Gorge Brook with the Asquamchumauke, and No. 3, somewhere near the Hubbard Brook notch. Operations at Camp 2 confronted Park with the old problem of excessive transportation distances. The camp could be reached only by a trip of two miles up the steep-sided gorge of the Asquamchumauke above the high iron bridge farthest out in East Warren. A roadway was carved up the gorge and logs were sledded down during the first winter of operations.
But Park was not a man to let obstacles bar his path. He decided to build a railroad from the high bridge up the gorge to Camp 2. The purpose was to increase the cut of the mill by keeping the log supply coming in all year round. The chief merit of the location selected was that on the short, steep run gravity furnished more than enough power to move the loads. In the summer of 1901 Park proceeded with the construction of Warren's second railroad. Equipment was of the simplest, consisting merely of light steel rails and two sets of trucks of the type commonly used in mountain logging. The trucks were hauled up the track by a string of horses in single file. At the top of the grade the two trucks were spaced according to the length of the logs to be loaded.
When the load was securely lashed the log car was released and rapidly gained momentum as it dropped from the Camp 2 plateau. The car carried a load of 9,000 to 10,000 feet per trip and made two trips a day, which furnished a supply of two thirds of the capacity of the mill. The big handicap was the necessity of reloading the logs on wagons for the five mile haul to the mill; the wagons were limited to loads of 2,500 to 3,000 feet. The railroad itself was unusable in winter, but it made an excellent sled road.
Hand set brakes were the only means of control and some exciting moments were furnished the operators of the tiny train. The Warren Town Report for the year ending February, 1903, contains the following notation under the heading of Vital Statistics:'Aug. 5, 1902, in Warren, Joseph Tomaso, male, 40 years, born Italy, laborer, father and mother born Italy, cause of death - accident, physician reporting, G.A. Weaver.'
This terse statement is believed to be the only written record of the one fatality sustained in connection with Park's great venture. The Italian was operating the train and, when the brakes failed to catch, he feared that the car would plunge into the gorge. Jumping for his life, instead he landed on a rock pile and was killed. The train stayed on the track until it reached the end of the line below the iron bridge, when it crashed off into the woods. The trucks were repaired, but on another occasion the following summer the brakes again failed to grab. Remembering the Italian's rash leap, James Ward clung to the wildly careening load until the iron bridge was reached, where he jumped off safely into a sandy spot. There being no bumper the car again forged deep into the woods at the end of the line. The outshoot at the foot of this notorious line may still be discerned slabbing the hill above the Warren Woodstock road at the bend in the road opposite the high bridge site. . . ."
From the "Forest History of Mount Moosilauke" by J. Willcox Brown, pp.135-162, The Moosilaukee Reader (Vol.1). ©1999.
