Made a trip yesterday to this lumber mill outside of Eugene Oregon. It is one of the last steam powered mills left. They specialize in rough cut full dimensional lumber only and can saw and handle timbers up to 85' long.
This mill has been in the Hull family since its beginning, and we had a guided tour by one of the younger generation sons. Took about an hour and a half, but we saw everything. The steam engine was not in operation as the boilers were being re-tubed. The rack that travels carrying the log that gets fed into the saw is steam operated, so they had their sawdust furnace going to make steam. One of the pictures shows a chute carring the sawdust to a hole in the floor that actually is the furnace below. Another picture shows the boiler date of manufacture and where it was made. The guy in the black jacket is my friend and the pilot. The photo that has Jerry sitting is a timber that measures 12"X30"X42' which was custom ordered and I was told has a value of close to $6000. What was really interesting is their employees have been there for generations also and that their hours of operation are from 7:30 to 5week days only, one shift, and no exceptions. I call that independence.
Facinating visit.