The North Woods, in some respects, is like a living museum to the logging industry with artifacts sprinkled around in strange places. Some like Chamberlain Farm, have all but disappeared, reclaimed by mother nature, but other still hold vigil, rusting sentinels waiting to be visited by those curious enough to go searching. The largest are the tramway, train engines and box cars left in the woods near Eagle Lake, but equally fascinating are the machines once used for hauling logs in the winter woods. They were known as Lombard log haulers and there are two resting along the Allagash; tucked in the woods, resting where some backwoods logger parked them so many years ago.
From 1900 to 1917, Alvin’s factory in Waterville Maine produced 83 steam log haulers, but there are few in existence today, having long ago served their purpose, most were turned to scrap. The machines ran on steam and pulled log laden sleds through the woods in winter, in preparation for the spring log drives. Lombard’s innovative tracked tread system became the prototype for all tanks and other tracked vehicles that followed.
After breakfast we followed the path that led downhill to a small stream, we crossed at a log bridge and continued up the other side, turning toward the woods and after a few yards we saw something curving up out of the ground in the middle of the narrow trail. It was a skid ski, and all of a sudden, we realized just to the left and half covered in foliage was one of the Lombards. It looked like the skeletal remains of some giant beast, and I was awe struck. You just don’t see stuff like hanging around, unless I guess you’re in the Allagash. We photographed the beast and continued on until we found the second hauler. It was more intact than the first and someone had circled it with an old snow fence; probably because of the asbestos sheeting that we could see spilling from the bottom of the boiler. It was an impressive site. There were also parts of things scattered around, the weirdest one as far as I was concerned was the metal bucket hanging off the side. How long has that thing been sitting there?
It was time to get moving, so we headed back, broke camp, loaded up and headed downriver. We were on our way to the ranger station at Michaud Farm.
