Jeff,

Have you found the info you are looking for on jill pokes? If not, a jill poke is basicly a pole or iron/steel beam on a pivot the is pushed out against the logs on the car and then the train pushes against the jillpoke so that as it pivots around on its axis it pushes the logs off. I thought that one of my books would show a pic but it didn't My brother Mainframer might have the book that I was thinking of. You could also go over to the the-gauge forums which are now the zealot and go though their logging threads I kow that I have seen pics there.

I hope that you find what you need Phil

Hi Jeff, I attended an operating session last evening on my buddy, Jim McSherry's Vancouver Island logging layout. While the model railroad is in its infant stages in regard to scenery, Jim has created a working Jill Poke. Have a look!



Jim's Jill Poke actually spins and knocks the logs into the water below.



I'll have to ask Jim about the plans he used to create this lovely model.

Mike, I'd love to get a copy of those as well, this is a great example and fine craftsmanship. Is Jim one of our members? Thanks Pat

Here is a drawing of a prototype Jill Poke as used for logging. Unlike the model with four arms, This drawing had one. Hope this helps

Hi Pat, no Jim is not a forum member...just one of our Friday Nighters. Yes, his Jill poke has the four arms...interesting when it comes to spinning the boom for each car. I'll have to ask Jim about the prototype he is modelling. [:-apple]

Jeff; Just as a note, Keystone Locomotive Works has a Jill Poke Kit #395-102 through Walthers for $9.95. Although it is HO scale, it may work for you, or at least give you an idea.

Hi aLL,

Can you tell me how the 'Jillpoke' got its name? And is there a 'Jackpoke' as in Jack & Jill?

Jeff

The good Mr. Hamer convinced me I should register with the forum. While I followed Mike's coffee table thread - I contributed the trestle and the telephone poles - this is my first entry as a member. I built the Jill poke from a picture in Robert Turner's Logging by Rail, p136. The description says it was built by Campbell River Timber and located at Menzies Bay on Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada.

I'm not happy with my implementation of the cables holding up the arm. They are thread, and they do not stay straight, since the weight of the arms is insufficient to stretch the thread tight. I can't see a reasonable way to weight the arms sufficiently so, when I get a chance, I plan to replace the thread with some fine brass wire. Like many items on the layout, finishing touches, particularly weathering, still need to be added.

If you build one like this, think about the relationship between the spacing between the tips of the arms and the length of the cars to be unloaded. I chose the length based on the width of the deck I'd already built so that the arm would push the logs off just short of half way along the car. At our recent operating session, I found that the spacing between the tips was longer than the cars. In real life, this might have presented a problem.

This Jill poke is not prototypical for the Chemainus log dump where it resides on my layout, but it was just too neat a structure not to include it. Now, back to finishing that whole log dump scene for our upcoming Bobber convention!

Pat, I didn't make any plans, other than notes I make in a log book I keep for all sorts of info on my layout. I just figured out some dimensions based on the size of the people and skeleton car wheels in the picture. Watch out for the length of the arms. If you look at the engine house behind the wharf, you'll note a modification in progress: the arm wouldn't swing past the corner if I placed it where I wanted to. So, now it's a two-stall instead of a three-stall engine house. Thanks for the kind words.

Rod, I can't remember the article in which I found the discussion, but there appeared to be no consensus on the source of the name. Several alternatives, none of which I remember now, were offered.

One final suggestion: if you raise the track closest to the Jill poke as the prototypes did, raise the level slowly. I have derailment problems at that point and have to lengthen the rise. Loosening the trucks on the idler cars prevents the problem, but that allows the cars to wobble more.

Hello everyone,

Thanks everyone for all the good info! Even though I live close to the Sacramento Rail Museum and use their library (lots of good stuff by the way) I wasn't finding too much on this. Also surprising is that when you do a google/yahoo search on this you really don't find much. Now I've got some good ideas now to start on this.

Thanks again

Hey Jim, glad to see someone with talent like yours sign on. Thanks for the input and could you perhaps give us some general dimensions? Like the length of the arms the overall height and anything else you think we would need. Please feel free to start your own thread and show us some more of your great work, Pat

I did find the drawing of the jill poke used by Keystone Locomotive Works. It's actually pretty close to the design I'd like to use. After I find the right scrap materials, it might be a fun little project for the weekend.

Thanks again everybody,

Jeff

Pat, the length of the arms, from the centre of the support post to the tip is about 35 feet. The height to the tip of the cables support from the wharf deck is 28 feet. The arms are about 5-1/2 feet above the deck. The arm length was determined by the requirement for the tip to reach to the water side of the car - an assumption - but note my earlier caution. The height was a guestimate from the picture, while the height above the deck was determined by the need to have the tip contact the lowest log on the car. The rest of the dimensions were guestimates too, something that can be dangerous.

The top piece was mad by cutting a double pulley in half and turning one half upside down on top of the other - the detail was not clear from the picture. Brass sheet was cut for the tips and the square ring attaching the arms in the centre.

I've included an extra closeup to show a bit more detail; it emphasizes why I plan to redo the thread/cable.



I did as you suggested and started a thread on 'Building a log bridge'.

Jim,

Your model of the jillpoke is nice and impressive on the layout. I hadn't noticed the problem with the thread on the "in situ" pictures, but it's more visible on the last shot. Couldn't you drill the arm where the thread is supposed to hold it, slip the thread through the hole, hold its tension with a tape and put a bit of epoxy to solidly hold it in this tightly stretched position?