HISTORY OF TIE MILLS IN NORTH LOUISIANA AND THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY THAT SUPPORTED THEM

Copyright 2002

David C. McNeill

Winnfield, LA

DEDICATION

This work is being dedicated to the memory of my dad, William Frederick "Mr. Fred" McNeill. Many of you knew him, I give him credit for teaching me everything good that I know, the bad things I learned on my own. He will be mentioned in this document of course, it is a personal history. He began driving a truck at the age of 22 in 1926. He raised me in the "swamper's seat" of a truck. I don't remember my first ride with my dad in the drivers seat; I do remember the last, in 1995. He was 91 years old when he drove my cab-over White Freightliner up his driveway for the last time. He died two years later. A trucking career that spanned 69 years from his first ride in a 1917 White to his last, ironically in a White.

PREFACE

This brief history is being written from personal experience and events as I remember them. As is the case with any personal history account it will favor the people and companies that I have come in contact with and will leave out others that may have been equally as important. I apologize for this personal shortcoming but feel that if I don't write down this small piece of family history it will soon be lost forever. I would encourage anyone who reads this and remembers similar associated events and people to write them down and help put the pieces of the past together. I would like to assemble photos of people and equipment of the era to enhance this story and others I plan to write.

This history I am writing about will cover a specific industry, tie mills, and how trucks were involved with them. Hopefully I can describe activities well enough and include enough information to help those who have never seen these activities to understand and visualize them, and to bring back memories to those who were there and lived that part of history. If you find incorrect information please correct me but don't complain, ----- it was free.

HISTORY OF TIE MILLS IN NORTH LOUISIANA AND THE TRUCKS THAT SUPPORTED THEM

During the years from 1945 until approximately 1960 the manufacture of Railroad cross ties was in its heyday. "Tie mills" or "Peckerwood Sawmills" were all over north and central Louisiana. Some of the names and places I specifically remember were: H. M. Carpenter, Calvin; Brady "Boy" Bagwell, Calvin; W. H. Collins, Calvin; E. B. Murphy, Dodson, Sikes, Oakdale, Kurthwood, and other locations; Robert Hallmark, Atlanta; Ashton Collier, Atlanta; Cliff LeBarron, Atlanta; DeBusk, Atlanta; Wendell Gresham, Atlanta; "Dude" Woods, Coushatta; Belton Blewer, Saline; "Hammer" McClain Verda; Willie Frazier, Bentley; Archie Nutt, Montgomery & Goodpine; There were other small mills, some of the names that were associated with the industry were Taylor, Stroud, Jordan, Robinson, Womack, Ferguson, and McManus the locations I don't remember. Larger mills also cut ties, some of these included Gus Crawford, Winnfield; Kolb Tie &Timber Co., Alexandria; Payne Brothers, Dodson; and Crawford Young, Creston.

The mills were not usually fully portable, but could be dismantled and moved to a new location and reassembled. This could take weeks and was usually done only when the mill was sold to a new owner or a very large tract of timber was purchased. There were a few truly portable mills, but they were usually quite small. They were mounted on an axle with truck wheels to be towed like a trailer. They could be moved and set up within one to five days depending on the design. Some had skid-ways and tie racks that could be moved as a unit, eliminating the time it took to build permanent structures. The pulley to carry the sawdust chain was hung in a tree. The big disadvantage was that it would usually be set up in an area from which the trees had recently been cut, leaving a mill-yard full of stumps. This caused difficulty for the lumber hauler who usually had tractor trailer rigs. Frequently no thought was given to this, since their trucks were smaller and would have no problem. I remember one incident when a wooden bridge had to be crossed to get to the mill; after Dad got the truck loaded and started out, he made a fast run for the bridge. The truck made it across but the trailer broke through the bridge. He had enough momentum to make it out but the bridge was a wreck. Tie mills were usually set up in an open area with good solid ground like an iron ore or clay hill or sometimes in a pasture, giving plenty of operating room. They were frequently in the same location for several years.

By modern standards there was a large amount of wasted resources associated with tie mills. The sawdust was either pushed away to rot or was burned. The slabs and edging strips were either given away as firewood or burned in the slab-pile

Although the vast majority of ties were 8' or 8'6" long, "switch ties" were up to 16' long so most mills were set up to cut logs up to 16 feet. The mills were reasonably simple in design, consisting of a carriage track and carriage (with setworks), the saw husk with mantle and feedworks, edger and rollerbed. The most popular manufacturer seemed to be Corley. Power to run the mill ranged widely, from steam in the early days to tractors or home-made contraptions made from old trucks, then later almost all mills had skid mounted power units. Power units were butane, gasoline or diesel powered. One of the most popular was Minneapolis Moline butane. Others frequently seen were International Diesel, Buda Diesel, General Motors Diesel and Waukesha. The one piece of equipment a tie mill could not function without was a winch-truck. This was the mobile power lifter used for everything. Most were 2 ton Ford or Chevrolet with a few Internationals and occasionally other makes. They were normally an unsightly thing, no doors, frequently no hood, sometimes no cab. They were often old log trucks that had been worn out to the point they were unsafe on the road. The design of a sawmill winch-truck was quite different from the design used in the oilfield. The A-frame, as it was called in saw mills (Gin-poles or Boom), was about 12-16 feet high, set about two feet ahead of the rear end at an angle of about 60 degrees. Guylines ran from the top of the A-frame to the headache-rack (the pipe frame around the winch). A tail chain fastened from a cross bar halfway up the A-frame down to the end of the truck frame kept the A-frame from folding over the cab. A snatch-block was attached to the cross bar to stabilize the cable and prevent swinging of the load. If this was not done the truck would flip over very easily. I broke out on a winch truck at the age of 16.

A typical mill would employ a minimum of six men including a sawyer, (ran the carriage feeding the log into the saw), log tripper, (turned the log or "cant" when a flat side had been cut), offbearer (removed the materials cut by the saw) who also doubled as edgerman, (ran lumber through a machine with two saws to cut off rough sides and bark), edger tailer/lumber stacker (sometimes two people), roller-bed man who pushed ties onto the tie racks and also stacked lumber and a winch-truck driver. This crew could cut at least 100 ties per day, sometimes up to 200. A faster mill could cut 300-400 ties per day but had a much larger crew. It would require the additional positions of Block-setter, (a person riding on the log carriage who worked the levers to move the "knees" out, advancing the cant closer to the saw to cut another board) an additional man tailing the saw (offbearer or edgerman), an additional man on the rollerbed, two men to trim and stack ties, a man on the skidway to keep logs rolled down to the tripper, the winch truck driver would have a swamper (assistant) and there would be cleanup man to keep sawdust and bark shoveled out of the way. A twelve man crew would be a fairly large operation. Women were very seldom employed by sawmills. The one I recall was Archie Nutt's wife who was a block-setter at his Goodpine, LA mill.

Most sawmillers were ingenious people that could look at a situation and figure out an invention that would make it easier, then build it. Many mills had blacksmith equipment, then later more modern ones had welding and machine-shop equipment. Nothing was ever thrown away or scrapped, it was set aside along the tree-line or fence-row for later use. Many times old truck parts were used such as winches made from rear ends. "Dude" Woods of Coushatta, LA made an overhead winch system which allowed the Sawyer to trip logs on the carriage (the sawyer also set the blocks). The entire mill was run by two people and could cut about 25 ties per day. "Hammer" McClain built a "slab kicker" that consisted of a drum made from old truck wheels welded together with spikes around the outside to grab into the slabs. The man on the rollerbed picked up the slab, slammed it down on the spinning drum, which threw it like a rocket into the woods. It was very dangerous, the person could be pulled onto the drum and killed. The angle of the slab had to be perfect to launch them; sometimes they hit the ground close by, sometimes they went straight up. I remember one that came down through the mill shed. Today an OSHA inspector would have a stroke if he saw some of the old tie mills. There were many dangerous situations, 12" wide flat belts running beside mill-hands with no guards to protect them, cut-off saws to trim ties with no guards on them, and numerous others. Injuries, although not too frequent, were severe.

The logs were bought from various sources. They were sometimes bought in large tracts either from private landowners timber companies or from the Kisatchie National Forest. The larger mill owners usually had a logging crew and their own log trucks, while smaller operations depended on contract trucks and independent loggers. A small independent logger might have one bobtail truck, a team of horses or mules and a few hand tools such as crosscut saw, axes, wedges, mauls, canthooks, chains, one or two helpers and a tremendous amount of determination. Trees were cut by two men called "flatheads" pulling a crosscut saw. When cutting pine, the resin had to be washed from the saw by kerosene from a bottle with it's opening plugged with pine straw forming a brush. This allowed a small amount to be released at a time. In later years the crosscut saw was replaced by a 6/30 Homelite or a Mall chainsaw.

Horses and mules played an important role in early logging operations. The horses were used to skid the logs from the place where the tree was cut to the "set" where they were bunched for loading onto the trucks as I will explain later. Well trained horses or mules knew the logging operations well and didn't have to be moved by reins. When a log was hooked up they would take it to the set with the lines coiled up on the butt-rig. When a logger moved to a new tract of timber, A makeshift corral was made by stringing barbed wire around trees to keep the horses in at night. Horses were gradually replaced with tractors during the 50's, then skidders took over during the 60's.

Log trucks were simple in design, they were a cab &chassis with oak 6x6 timbers bolted on top of the frame rails with two more timbers of the same size eight feet long bolted crosswise about six feet apart on top of them; these were called "bolsters". Each end of the bolsters had a steel strap loop called a stake pocket. The truck was backed in alongside the row of logs, about 8 feet away from the nearest log. Forked stakes were placed in the pockets on the loading side with longer stakes on the off-side. "Skid poles" were placed in the fork of the stake with one end on the ground. A ¼ " chain approximately 30 feet long called a "roll-chain" was attached to the end of each bolster, then run through a notch in the top end of each skidpole, then down in a loop to the ground out in front of the end of the skidpoles. The log to be loaded was rolled onto the loop of chain with a canthook. The loop of chain was pulled over the log back toward the truck. A "crosshaul" chain was hooked in the center of the loop, then across the truck and hooked to the double tree of the team. As the team pulled the cross-haul chain, the log rolled up the skidpoles onto the truck. A normal load was 15-20 "tie cuts" or logs.

One of my dad's first truck driving jobs after he moved from Texas to Louisiana was for Randall Howard on a 1941 Chevrolet. In 1945, the year I was born, W. H. Collins came home from the Army and bought a 1939 D-30 International and hired dad to drive it. He drove for Mr. Collins for a total of more than 15 years in various increments. One of the early trucks he drove for him was a WW II surplus GMC 6X6. We hauled the timber cut from the right-of-way on the Tennessee Gas pipeline near the Sparta Fire tower on the Gum Springs road. The year must have been about 1950.

The first truck we owned was a 1937 ford that was one of two bought by H. M. Carpenter. They had only a cowl, no cab. We bought another one that had a bad engine with a good cab which was installed on our truck by a shop located across US Hwy167 from the trading post. If my memory serves me correctly the shop was owned by "Sonny" Boyette. My Dad painted the cab with a brush and a can of Very red paint. It became known as "the old red Ford". I remember him hauling ties from H. M. Carpenters mill to the railroad siding in Calvin. He had to pass the school where I was in first grade in 1951. I could recognize the sound of the old truck and would look out the door to watch him go past. My teacher Mrs. Wardlaw made me go to the door to get a better view. She said she had never seen such a "car crazy kid"

Few roads were paved, only the US Highways were concrete which had been done under the Huey P. Long and O. K. Allen administrations. Some of the main artery State roads were blacktop (tar & gravel). Some of the secondary state roads were gravel up into the early 60's. Parish roads were gravel at best, with some being graded dirt. Mud holes 100 feet long that were only passable for vehicles with high ground clearance were commonplace. Log roads were nothing more than a path through the trees. They frequently had many twists and turns to bypass trees. Underbrush was cut out, stump holes and armadillo holes were filled with pine knots. Creeks were crossed by cutting saplings and small trees, laying them in the creek lengthwise to the flow, then placing a few on each side as runners for the tires to travel on. When a truck could not pull a hill or got stuck in a mudhole, the team was hooked to it to help pull it. The loads were not heavy, the trucks just didn't have much power. Our 37 Ford had an 85 horsepower flathead V8 with a 4 speed transmission. Tires were 7.50X20, giving a top speed of probably 45 MPH. Not much damage was done to the woods by logging operations since there was little disturbance to topsoil and rootmat. Since skidding was done by the team, the shortest route was taken from the stump to the set; no skid roads were developed, so no erosion was caused. Stream banks suffered no damage except minimal where trucks crossed. Tree tops were left where they fell, providing cover for wildlife. I'm not sure this can be considered as "waste".

Ties from the mill were usually hauled by trucks set up exactly like the log trucks and in fact they often were the same truck. Ties were usually stacked onto the truck by hand, requiring a quick snatch and pitch motion to prevent straining. Occasionally the winch truck was used to load them, but not if the mill was running, since it would be too busy. Tie buyers like Gross & Janes or Koppers Co. had an arrangement with the railroads; Louisiana & Arkansas (L&A), Rock Island (RI), Kansas City Southern (KCS), Tremont & Gulf (T&G) or Louisiana Midland to stack ties on the railroad siding until they had enough to fill several gondola cars. The ties were inspected by the tie buyer and graded according to size and quality. Rounded edges, called wain, lowered the grade; this was caused by cutting the tie from a log that wasn't large enough. Sizes, measured in inches, included 6X8 8', 7X9 8' 6" and others; grades were 2,3,4 or 5 with a 7X9 8'6" grade 5 bringing the best price. When the ties were tallied or "taken up" they were stamped with a hammer mark or brand on the end. Sometimes "S irons" had to be driven into the end of ties to prevent splitting, this was especially done on ties for export. Some ties were sold directly to American Creosote Works in Winnfield, Standard Wood Preservers in Shreveport, or to Colfax Creosote Co. in Pineville.

The tie siding lumber was cut as "four quarter" or "six quarter" , counting quarters of inches. Four Quarter which should be one inch thick had to actually be Five Quarter to allow it to be planed smooth. Markets for tie siding lumber included Kroehler Furniture Manufacturing Co. of Shreveport for "soft hardwoods" like Gum, Ash, Beech, Cherry, Elm, Pecan and some others; Frost Flooring Plant in Shreveport for Oak. Low grade lumber was difficult to sell, most of it went to Port Barre Lumber Co., a pallet factory in Port Barre owned by Joe Elder. They bought culls, dunnage, Locust and Hickory. Pine tie siding was seldom in demand and usually brought such a low price, it was better to use it for building tool sheds and other necessary buildings than trying to sell it. One place where we did haul some pine lumber was to Crossett Lumber Co. in Crossett, Arkansas. A local market for hardwood in the late forties and early fifties was Thomas Lumber Co. located on Thomas Mill Road ,where PBS Lumber and Brewton Lumber Co. are now in Winnfield.

Unloading took a variety of methods, at Thomas Mill the truck was backed up alongside an elevated platform with well-oiled oak timber racks. A winch cable was wrapped around the load, then slid sideways onto the rack.. At Jonesboro railroad siding there was a lumber buyer who loaded the lumber onto railcars. There was no mechanical equipment to unload with, so ramps called "dump blocks" had been built which were placed behind the wheels on one side. When the truck was backed up onto the dump blocks it tilted abruptly to one side dumping the load. Most of the larger markets had forklifts, usually either Hyster or Taylor. Port Barre Lumber Co. had a forklift that was a converted F8 Ford truck. It was operated by a Creole named "Plook", and occasionally was operated by the yard boss, a Cajun named "Mekay" who could tear up anything!

Some of the lumber haulers I remember from this area were my dad W.F. McNeill, W.H. Collins, H.L. Turner, B.R. Cruse, Johnny Corley and J.D. Holmes. Many of the sawmills had their own truck haul their lumber to market. In the early days of my experience with lumber hauling, it was done with KB 7 Internationals with 24' floats, then a few years later with L 185, L 190, R 185 and R 190 Internationals and a 620 GMC. Other popular makes were F 8 Ford and Spartan 100 Chevrolet, Some had REO, White, Mack, Diamond T and a few Autocars. Most were gasoline powered with a very few diesels. There were some Dodges, one owned by W.H. Collins, driven by "Junior" Bates, the other owned by J.D. Holmes and driven by James Walker. Both were '56 models "T" series with V8 engines. My dad had a '56 Dodge in 1961, it was a "Y" series, big 6 cylinder with dual carburetors and dual exhaust. This history would not be complete without mentioning H.L. Turner's top driver, Mr. Ardis Cheek. At one point in time Mr. Turner, Mr. Cheek and my dad were all still hauling lumber; all were over 70 years old. There was a rivalry between them to be the last one on the road, I'm not sure who won.

In July 1952, Payne Brothers of Dodson decided to move their mill to Antonito, Colorado, a tiny little town north of Santa Fe, NM. They mainly used their own trucks to move it, but hired W.H. Collins to haul one load. My dad got the trip with a 1947 KB 7 International and single axle float. The entire family, Dad, Mom, two sisters at ages 9 & 2 and me at age 7 loaded into a tiny cab and made the trip. I will write that story another day.

A tie mill usually meant a means of making a living for most people in the community, either as sawmill hands, loggers, hauling the products or some other supporting business. Most communities had a country store where all groceries were bought and occasionally farm produce like eggs or turnip greens could be sold. The mill hands frequently bought their lunch from the store, or part of it, like an RC cola, Nehi strawberry, moon pie or Jacks cookie. Some stores made sandwiches or at least "the fixins" for sandwiches. They even delivered groceries to homes who didn't have a car.

As everything changes, the country store is gone, the little community tie mills are all gone, we live on the road. Now we think nothing of driving 20 miles to have a cup of coffee, everything costs more but we have to have "things". In the days of country stores and tie mills lunch might consist of a cold biscuit with ham and sliced sweet potatoes fried in butter, brought to work in a syrup bucket lunch pail. Now we might drive to Burger King for lunch and spend as much as a days wage would have been in 1950.

We at the American Truck Historical Society (ATHS) hope by displaying some of the trucks and equipment of the nostalgic bygone days and by preserving the personal histories of the trucking industry; we can stimulate interest and demonstrate the past to the generations who follow in our tire tracks.