Planning Mill

[NW Modeling List]

Bob,

If I have your question right, it would be hard for someone with out knowledge to tell the difference between a regular “sawmill”  and a “planing” type mill.  Most big facilities would have had both.  At one end the mill would take in logs to be sawn into dimensional lumber, once sawn they would be planed downed to the correct size and be smooth much as you see lumber in Lowe’s and Home Depot.  

Rough sawn lumber would look much like it was cut with a chain or carpenter’s saw.  One way to tell by the railroad would be the car types the sawn lumber is loaded/unloaded.  Rough lumber might travel by centerbeam or flat car without protection from the weather.  Planed lumber would travel by boxcar(such as the Thrall all door type), centerbeam or flat car but on the open cars this lumber would be wrapped in some way as protectin from the weather.  Reason being is most planed lumber has been dried naturally or kiln dried and exposure to weather will hurt the finished product.

I would say a railroad would take in rough lumber for car repairs if they own the planing mill in the photo.

James Wall
Rural Hall, NC