Customer Reviews

The Oregon-American Lumber Company: Ain't No More

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oregon-American Lumber Company: Ain't No More is a great inside look at the business and political workings of one of the West's larger producers of lumber in the glory days of the industry. Unlike many books on the lumber industry the authors were able to draw on a vast collection of managment letters and records as well as the recolections of former emploiees. This allows a look at both sides of such issues as labor relations and cutting practices. In this day and age we tend to forget that the reasion for such companies as Oregon-American existed was to make money for their investors by cutting their timber and selling the lumber cut there from. There were good solid economic reasions for the now discredited practices of the past.

Besides the excelent text this book contains a truly grand collection of photographs covering the entire life of the company. Some are amiture shots of poor quality but their rare subject matter makes up for that. The inclussion of an inventory of the logging equipment used by the company as well as on of their steam locomotives adds much information lacking in most books of this type. It is a great addition to my library.

The authors have done a magnificent job in thoroughly covering the history, people and the operations of the fabled Oregon-American Lumber Company. Many of us have seen photos of this operation in a few books before, but, until now, we had nothing to describe the operation in any detail.

With "Ain't No More" we finally have the definitve work on this
fascinating logging operation and the railroad that served it. Through maps, records and photos the authors have weaved together how this operation came to life, survived the ravages of several forest fires and finally cut out under the name Long-Bell in 1957.

There is a wealth of unpublished photos that give both the historian and modeler a detailed look at this great example of Northwest logging.

For anyone interested in the highball days of Northwest logging,
"Ain't No More" is a must purchase!

This book compreshensively tracks the history of the Oregon American Lumber Company that operated out of Vernonia, Oregon from the 1920's to 1957. The details included make this book a reference work on the operation.