A typical"tech tuesday" video post has received a great deal of attention in the past week. Posted Tuesday, July 12, on CSR's Facebook Page, the video [embedded below] of Wabeno's Phoenix Log Hauler has received, as of Friday, more than 170,000 views in three days. The unique vehicle, largely unknown to those outside of rural northern Wisconsin, is most likely why the video has been so popular.
That uniqueness is also what attracted CSR President Davidson Ward to visit Wabeno and attend its annual "Steam Up Days" festival the weekend prior.
"I had run across the Phoenix Log Hauler parked and under cover when driving through the town on a road trip two years prior," explained Ward. "When the opportunity arose to visit friends in the region and see the 'Phoenix' in action, I couldn't say no."
The Phoenix Manufacturing Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, manufactured the unique piece of steam history in the early 1900's for use by the G.W. Jones Lumber Company at its mill from 1909 to 1935.
The machine is a unique mixture of steam locomotive, steam tractor, and treaded-excavator that was used to haul long sleds of logs from the forests to the lumber mill in Wabeno, Wisconsin. It was used in both summer and winter, with two skis attached in place of the wheels for winter operations. Interestingly enough, the device burns hardwood scraps and uses water picked up along the way (or from snow), and it could thereby be an example of "old school sustainability." Click on the diagram below to get an enlarged view of the machine.
The "Phoenix" was donated to the Town of Wabeno in 1944 by the lumber company, and a group of citizens restored it to operation in 1965. The unique machine is one of only a few similar to it operating today, with the majority of other surviving machines having been made by Lombard in Maine (Lombard licensed components of its invention to Phoenix for the manufacture of this and about 200 other units made by the company).
Each year on the weekend after the Fourth of July, Wabeno hosts a "Steam Up Days" to show off its unique, operating piece of history and host a bunch of other lumberjack-related equipment. It is a good time and an event not to be missed!
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