Martin Burwash writes about this collection of photos . . .
But here’s a little Milwaukee Road history I haven’t seen….the Mineral reload when it was operated by a steam donkey. These were taken with my very first camera, a Brownie Starlite…Payless 127 film in 1964. What you are seeing is indeed a steam donkey pulling logs out of Mineral Lake and loading them on Milwaukee Road cars.
The shot taken of donkey engineer at work was done by the Old Man, as you can see me sitting in the lower corner. That old engineer was so fast at swinging the boom and dropping a log on the car, I told Dad maybe he’d have a better chance at getting a good shot….and that he did. But here’s what’s cool….we don’t have to settle for this blurry crap…somewhere the Old Man [Steve Burwash] has a set of Kodachrome slides of this.
Finding them is a definite winter “must-do.”
Photos courtesy of Martin Burswash.
Click on images to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 
7 responses to “Mineral Lake – logging in 1964”
These are awesome shots! The log loader was built in 1923 by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works of Portland, OR for the West Fork Logging Company at Seabeck, WA. It was originally a tree-rigged steam “unit” (one boiler supplying both a yarding engine and a loading engine mounted on a steel frame). West Fork relocated from Seabeck to Mineral in 1928 after acquiring the assets of the Mineral Lake Logging Company. You can see West Fork’s “hotel” and machine shop across the lake at what is now the Lion’s club camp ground. By the time of this photo, though, the show was being run by St. Regis Paper Company. St. Regis stopped using the big Willamette in the woods and moved it down to Mineral Lake for reloading logs. After its use there was discontinued, it was put on display in the camp ground (minus its wheels). We moved the Willamette to our logging museum in 2013 and placed it back onto proper wheel sets (“trucks”) that we had donated to us some years prior (how fortuitous!). The Willamette is on display in front of our machine shop. One day soon I hope to have new timbers milled so we can recreate the “house” that covered the machinery.
Brian Wise
Roadmaster
Mt. Rainier Railroad & Logging Museum
LikeLike
Thank you!!
LikeLike
I left a comment earlier, but seems to have gone. Commenting on the pics of the Mineral steam donkey taken in 1964: My Dad is the one operating the steam donkey and his name is Tud Kinnaman. Was wondering if the pictures would be available to get?
LikeLike
Hi, I think the comments were just turned off. I went in there and turned it back on. I’m not sure about whether the photos are available. Martin Burwash would be the one to contact. Let me see.
LikeLike
Thanks for checking it out for me. Do you have any contact info for Martin? Would like to meet him at the Museum sometime, if he would be available.
LikeLike
I don’t have any contact and would love to meet with him if he’s available. I’m traveling for work, but will be home after the 20th. Thank you!
LikeLike
February 11, 2018 at 4:05 pm
I was looking at some photos you and your Dad took at the steam donkey on Mineral lake in 1964. My Dad operated that steam donkey until it was shut down. I don’t know the exact dates when he started, but that is possibly my Dad in the picture. Do you remember the operators name. He went by “Tud” Kinnaman.
LikeLike