McCloud River Railroad
Timber Industry Ghosts

Fonthill Media suggested I consider a title for their Abandoned America series, and after a lot of effort on their part I relented. They agreed to an idea I'd had in my head for a while, specifically a work about the timber industry and the physical, cultural, and other manifestations it leaves behind. This book is broken up into four parts. Part 1 is Abandoned In Place and covers objects and facilities once used by the timber industry that have been left where they were last used or otherwise abandoned. Part 2 is Stuffed and Mounted, which covers mostly pieces of equipment that have been placed on pulbic display, usually in parks or museum. Part 3 is Repurposed, which covers equipment or facilities once used by the timber industry that are now used in other businesses, such as logging locomotives now hauling tourists or shopping centers built on old sawmill sites. Part 4 is Miscellaneous, which delves into other legacies of the timber industry, things like geographic or street names, high school and college mascots, art, and the like.

This was a very different book for me, and I'm overall pleased with how it turned out. Coverage in the book is limited largely to subjects in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, and with a heavy emphasis on operations and places that interest me it's no wonder there is a fair amount of McCloud material in it. The book is roughly organized by subjects within each part, so the geography floats around a lot.

This book is published by Fonthill Media and distributed in the US by Arcadia Publishing/The History Press.

Arcadia Publishing Company page for Timber Industry Ghosts (External Link)