308 pages with 411 beautiful photographs, many from the finest photographers of the Northwest forests, Darius and Clark Kinsey, plus 22 maps, locomotive rosters and index. Hard bound pictorial, finely printed in the U.S.A. on premium quality non-glare acid-free archival paper to provide you maximum detail and enjoyment. Large photographs, not just snapshots, with many finely reproduced full 8 1/2" x 11" page size, 6 fold-outs with 10 larger 11" x 17" scenes. Spanning the Steam Railroad Logging era of the 1880's into the 1950's generation diesel age.

The forests of the Pacific Northwest no longer resonate to the shrill donkey whistle, the pant of the steam logging locomotive struggling up the steep hillsides and over the deep canyons on spindly temporary trestles. This scene which started in the late 1800's as men applied the new technology of steam and iron power to harvesting the forests was played out by the 1960's as the forests receded and internal combustion trucks and machines replaced steam in harvesting the new generations of forests.

Steam power was but a tool, men lived and died by it, yet it engenders today a fascination and nostalgia deep within the heart of budding industrial archaeologists who find pleasure in learning about, and preserving in many instances, the history and equipment of those past times.

In these pages, Dennis Thompson shares with us the fruits of his years of collecting the photographs, records and remembrances of those years in Skagit County. He endeavors to put you in that engineer's seat pulling the throttle as your Shay locomotive blasts up Day Creek Canyon, he puts your heart in your mouth with a tale of losing a wheel off the camp crew speeder. Just after clearing a high trestle, he relates the terror of fire in the woods and the glory of great structures, albeit temporary, in the woods to carry trains over the many deep and not so deep canyons.

The fine quality 80 pound non-glare enamel acid free archival book paper was specifically chosen to enhance enjoyment of these large, detailed photographic moments in history by eliminating reflective page glare while assuring long life.

Of special help to researchers are the appendices and indexes. The locomotive index is organized by logger with full specification information and locomotive heritage dispositions.

The maps provide a quick and thorough survey of locations and extent of the various logging railroads that once traversed the hills and valleys of Skagit County.

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