Log flume

Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century.

Logging operations preferred flumes whenever a reliable source of water was available.

Today, log flumes remain in the popular imagination as amusement park rides.

The v-shaped trough brought a half-million feet of lumber daily from the eastern Sierra Nevada to the Comstock Lode.

The 15 miles (24 km) route was between Lake Tahoe and Reno, terminating at the Virginia and Truckee Railroad terminus in Washoe Valley.

[2] Soon, log flumes spread across the mountains of the western United States as artificial rivers that brought lumber to market.

Flume boxes are built tight with lumber free of knots to prevent leaks.

Often, flumes moved water from one drainage basin to another, with rights settled in court.

They could span gulches using much lighter trestles and they took up less space, fitting inside narrower canyons where there wasn’t room for a railroad.

The main disadvantage of the light construction was they were damaged more easily by fire, floods, wind, and falling timber.

[6] Square lumber was often provided by a temporary, portable sawmill erected at the head of the flume.

Box flumes were also more capable of handling materials uneven in size and weight simultaneously.

Lumber, pulpwood, shingle bolts, and whole logs move at different speeds and were prone to double-up in a V-flume’s low grades and curves.

Boats traveled over steep trestles and curves with precipitous drops on either side without brakes or other means to slow the craft.

[1]: 405 In the late 19th century, three rival California lumber companies built log flumes of unprecedented and nearly identical length.

Each served the same purpose: to link their logging operations in the Sierra Nevada to railroad shipping depots in the San Joaquin Valley.

Trucks offered mobility, lower operating costs, and did not rely on the availability of water.