created: August 16, 2001

The outdoor exhibits at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum include a working steam-powered sawmill (shown in the title photo) and recreated logging camp (below).

This view shows the railroad facilities in the logging camp area. A Shay locomotive, its headlight glowing in the shadows, is stored in the stall on the left. Shays, named after inventor Ephriam Shay, were steam locomotives driven by camshafts and geared wheelsets on pivoting trucks rather than the drive rods of traditional steam locomotives. Shays were more suited to the steep, twisting grades and primitive road beds characteristic of lumber railroads. A Barnhart log loader is stored in the stall on the right.

The visitor center displays the museum's collection of hand tools in a way that interprets the process and labor of the lumber industry. This vignette depicts a forester preceeding the loggers into the forest to mark trees for cutting. He carries two different pruning blades.

A diorama and mock-up illustrate how logs were formed into rafts to be floated downstream to the saw mills.

The most primitive saw mills were simple "saw pits." One man stood on a platform above the log, while his assistant stood in a pit underneath the log. This pit saw is about 8 ft. long. The wooden frame provides rigidity.

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