I'm working on a HOn30 micro logging layout (southeastern USA) and want to include a sawmill, but have limited space - that "micro" thing. I'm thinking that what I want to represent would be a small, portable sawmill setup, perhaps based around the little Woodland Scenics "Rural Sawmill" - see http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/785-243 for a picture - or their "Tie and Plank Mill" - see http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/785-154 . In either case, I'm thinking about a very small mill that would have been taken into the woods and set up for a specific logging operation, then moved on to the next place, rather than a much more permanent mill.
What I want to know is how logs and lumber were handled around such a portable mill. Would there have been a mill pond, or would the logs have been manhandled or mule-handled, etc. I plan to have a track to the mill, but don't know if the logs would have been simply dumped on the ground in a handy spot, how cut lumber was handled and loaded onto cars for tranport, etc.
Thanks for any advice, pictures, diagrams, etc.
What I want to know is how logs and lumber were handled around such a portable mill. Would there have been a mill pond, or would the logs have been manhandled or mule-handled, etc. I plan to have a track to the mill, but don't know if the logs would have been simply dumped on the ground in a handy spot, how cut lumber was handled and loaded onto cars for tranport, etc.
Thanks for any advice, pictures, diagrams, etc.