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A fascinating exploration of a steam powered sawmill "lost" in time.
And, you'll learn how the
best forest
management
helps to keep producing lumber without running out of
wood!
Explore ancient technology
and modern
logging in
Steam-Power
Sawmill
An
action-packed look at an industrial survivor.
The sawmill that time forgot.
Presented
in awesome 5.1 Dolby Surround-Sound.
From
the beautiful mountain peaks
...through
the lush forests
...down to the stream running by this rugged old sawmill
...there has never been a video quite like Steam-Power Sawmill.
To
watch preview scenes from STEAM POWER
SAWMILL,
just click on the box above.
For DIAL UP connections, click here
Requires
Windows Media Player. To download the free Windows Media Player,
click here.
Requires the
Windows
Media Player. To download the free Windows Media Player,
Mystified
journalists didn't know what to expect:
"I
wasn't sure what to expect when I received this video, but I must rate
it one of the more
fascinating I have reviewed. It is fast-paced,
informative, and educational.
Great narration. Well done and entertaining."
Heimberger Press, S Gaugian
Magazine
.
.
"Fascinating. The photography is nothing short
of spectacular. A one-of-a-kind presentation
well worth the price. This is a video to watch again and
again."
Live Steam Magazine
Screaming
machines, gut instinct, quick decisions... and steam
power.
Hidden
away in the lush forest of Oregon's Coastal Range is a
1930’s-era sawmill almost
untouched by time. Every morning the steam whistle of the
feisty
Hull-Oakes Lumber Company echoes off the nearby trees. The
vintage
steam-powered equipment is again fired-up to process old-fashioned long
and
large timber of Douglas fir for the world market.
Welcome
to the world of the STEAM-POWER SAWMILL and
the last commercial mill still operating in all of North
America. This is not a little
one-man operation, but rather a large complex that
never gave up on using steam to power its equipment
STEAM-POWER
SAWMILL is a unique documentary taking you on a kind
of an industrial archeological expedition to explore all the details of
this intricate
mill.
Starting from the old log pond where
floating logs are sorted, you’ll follow along through the
mill into the yard where
the finished lumber is loaded onto rail cars for shipment.
Everything
at this mill is from another era.
Whether it is the steam engines and
boilers …or
the old straddle-carriers that scoot around the lumber yard,
STEAM-POWER
SAWMILL will show you a technology you may have never known existed. You’ll even crawl
underneath for rare views of
the mill works.
Surprisingly
entertaining and educational. Available on
DVD in 5.1 Surround Sound
This
is a real industrial-strength passport to another
time…and another place.
.
To watch a video clip
from STEAM POWER SAWMILL, click here.
For DIAL UP
connections, click
here. (smaller file)
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If
you would like to add STEAM-POWER SAWMILL to your
shipping cart,
just click
here.
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PRODUCER'S
UPDATED NOTES: (April 2007)
 Steam-Power
Sawmill has turned
out to be one of our most popular videos.
It is loved by all age
groups.
Kids
come away
understanding that our forests are a natural resource that must be
taken care
of. They also see just how much work goes into getting lumber into
their
local hardware store.
Historians
have used Steam-Power
Sawmill
for archival purposes to
preserve forgotten industrial activities and to foster greater
understanding of the history behind our logging industry.
Hobbyists
have used it as a constant reference.
Teachers
have written us
saying they use the video as a kind of rainy-day reward for their
students. It is educational, yet it is fun.
People who needed a completely unique
gift have written back to say how Steam-Power Sawmill was
such a hit...they had never received anything quite
like it. They are usually telling us this when
they
call to order
more copies. (Now that's customer satisfaction!)
We recently updated the
Steam-Power Sawmill story for the new DVD release. Here
is what we did:
We wrote and recorded new
parts in order to clarify
and update a few points about reforestation and
about the
mill.
We
traveled back to the old
Hull-Oakes mill and added many
new scenes ...scenes we had always wished we
could have had in
the original hit production. The new footage helps you really
see the whole story.
While we were there shooting, we found Hull-Oakes had installed a "new" 50-year old planer mill.
So obviously we will show you that, too.
We created lots of Menu
Chapters for the DVD that make it easy to choose a special
part of the show. This is especially
helpful for
- teachers
- kids
- historians
- model
builders
But, what should really knock your socks off is the new 5.1
Dolby Surround Sound.
In a word, it is AWESOME!!
I sounds so real...you'll be wondering why there isn't sawdust
pouring out of your speakers.
(Of course, if you play it
too loud, there will be! But, please don't blame us for that!)
As some of you may know, as a producer I come with a strong background
in audio engineering.
Sound is very important to me on all my productions. Sound is what
makes a great image really come alive. (Just ask a George
Lucas or Steven Speilberg.)
If you
turn up your sound system (especially a 5.1 Surround Sound
system),
it will
feel
like you are really there,...
- on the old freight train
- at the logging site in
the woods
- in the meadow where the young trees
are growing
And
then...
- right there inside the old mill
- by the log pond where "log broncs"
sort logs
- in the boiler
room where they make the steam to run the mill
- underneath the mill where it looks
like the catacombs of some
gothic, science-fiction machine
And
finally...
- into the lumberyard where
you'll see the quaint 1930's-era straddle carriers (still being used)
- how
the lumber is prepped and loaded onto the old train for shipment around
the world.
I can easily promise, this will be the
most unusual, memorable, and enjoyable video
you may ever add to your collection. Every time you watch
it you'll see something new. It is
definitely one you will watch again and again....and one you will be
sharing with your friends.
There is something about this video that triggers the "Wow Factor" for
documentary fans.
As the producer, I have watched this show 101(+) times to get the
story,
action, and sounds just right. And now, every time I watch this new
version, the surround-sound still
just
knocks me
out.
I just know you are going to love it, too!
The
whole Steam-Power
Sawmill project was a lucky set of circumstances and truly
a labor of love.
This DVD I am
very proud to offer to you.
Rob
Simpson
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If
you would like to add STEAM-POWER SAWMILL to your
shipping cart,
just click
here.
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Here's what people have told us
about Steam-Power
Sawmill:
"I recently purchased your STEAM-POWER SAWMILL video. I was so
impressed with it that I just had to send this letter of thanks for a
job well done. ...The production was well planned out, especially the
sawmill scenes...very
educational and a great pleasure to watch. ...a real
eye-openeer. There's hardly anything else out on the market
that comes close."
Andrew, Illinois
"I
have over 80 videos in my
private collection with train content. The one exception is Steam-Power Sawmill.
This
is one of my
favorites. The entire video was educational and
informative. I enjoyed
it from beginning to end."
George,
Pennsylvania
.
"Steam-Power Sawmill is
fascinating.
Historically resonant. This is a wonderful offering from Golden Rail
Video.
TRAINS
Magazine
.
"Steam-Power
Sawmill is
outstanding. Beautifully filmed. Don't miss this video."
Narrow Gauge & Shortline
Gazette
Steam-Power
Sawmill is actually like having
three videos in one.
Here's why...
The Hull-Oakes
Lumber Company in Oregon is one of the few places left on the planet
that can process long and large logs of Douglas Fir into highly prized
lumber ...lumber that is sold all the world over. And it does so with
steam power.
This video explores this
mountain mill site as if you are on
an archeological expedition
uncovering forgotten secrets from another era.
Part ONE of Steam-Power
Sawmill:
Climb
aboard a 1st generation diesel train and ride the 100-year-old
rail line through the forest into our industrial past.
The Hull-Oakes
Lumber Company
with its old buildings and sheds provide a frozen-in-time backdrop to
the bustling lumberyard.
As
you scan the activity, the mill's fascinating history is revealed.
Part TWO:
You are whisked away to the
high country to see contemporary logging in action. You'll
see
- skyline riggings,
- selective harvesting, and
- the
application of scientific forestry research which
helps keep our planet's only renewable resource
strong.
Part THREE:
Brings
you back to the mill as the logs splash into the old-style log pond.
You'll follow them through the mill as they are turned into lumber, and
finally onto the waiting freight cars.
You'll
also explore the dark "underworld" of the mill ...a maze of
belts and chains leading to the steam engines that run the equipment
above.
There are so many amazing sights
...from the boiler room …to the big log de-barker
…to
the old straddle carriers that scoot around the lumberyard.
Because there's always something
different to see,
Steam-Power Sawmill is not only entertaining and
educational, it is a video you will enjoy over and over again.
Even young children find it
fascinating because it is like an adventure in the woods.
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If
you would like to add STEAM-POWER SAWMILL to your
shipping cart,
just click
here.
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PRODUCER'S
ORIGINAL NOTES:
Why produce a video about an old sawmill????
"I think it was the little kid in me who used to love school field
trips to farms and factories."
"When
I heard about this ancient mill, I just had to do something to preserve
it while it was still there."
Two
friends I know from Oregon publish
a magazine for
historians called Timber
Times. The magazines presents incredibly
preserved pictures and stories from the early days of logging. They
knew of a large commercial sawmill....hidden in the woods ...one that
was
still running on steam power and still using ancient equipment.
That's
how I first heard of the
Hull-Oakes Lumber Company.
I couldn't
believe it. Here was a
money-making, all-commercial
operation
still using
equipment
that is usually only
seen in some dusty museum.
And this was
the last one of its kind.
As a
photographer and
video producer, I knew there was an incredible
story going on
here that needed to be
told.
However....
What I
discovered was like uncovering
an industrial
King Tut's
Tomb... with
people still alive and happy inside it!
It was like
"industrial
archeology." Right here were
buildings, equipment, and
practices that
had been preserved as
if
locked in a time-warp.
The operation
had not been altered by
computers, lasers, and
other modern
influences within the
industry.
Somehow
ancient back-woods practices
had survived.
And these
old
methods were still being
handed down from one generation to the next.
It
was all there...
The carriage
rolling past the head rig slicing
off new boards like sticks of soft butter.
People
scrambling to adjust equipment
on the fly...and then GET OUT OF
THE WAY.
The edger man
adjusting the spinning blades of the edger saw by hand.
The
chain-driven
"jump
rolls" where the boards suddenly change direction and head to another
part of the mill. A maze of amazement.
Nobody has a
communications radio or is
referring to a software manual at this place.
It's all hand signals,
human-controlled
machinery, ...and
no-hesitation
decisions.
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If
you would like to add STEAM-POWER SAWMILL to your
shipping cart,
just click
here.
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Have you ever noticed that most day-to-day
activities in our world seem so common or normal to
us, often they
don't get documented?
The years go by... and little by
little... things
change. And no one really notices.
Suddenly,
it dawns on everyone that no one can
remember how something was done just two generations ago.
Traditions,
techniques, and skills that were perfected by trial and error over many
generations are suddenly lost.
"That
is why I had to pack up my
cameras and recording equipment,
and
head out to Oregon Territory. I just knew
there were things
going on there that would never happen again.
"But, nothing prepared me for the fascinating story I would find
surrounding the Hull-Oakes Lumber Company.
"I hope you enjoy your video journey to this industrial relic as much
as
I did."
Rob Simpson
For DIAL UP
connections, click
here. (smaller file)
Requires
Windows Media Player. To download the free Windows Media Player,
click here.
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