Whistlepunk ? What's a Whistlepunk ?

WHISTLEPUNK ? WHAT'S A WHISTLEPUNK ???

It's like the 'Sidehill Gouger'. Gone. You never see and rarely hear about the Gouger or the Whistlepunk anymore. They were mostly found on the West Coast of North America in areas where logging took place, such as British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Stick with me and I'll tell you about the Whistlepunk.

My name is Les McMillan, and I was once a whistlepunk. That's many years ago, but I remember well my experiences in the logging industry, or "the woods"" as we called it. When logging changed from dragging logs with teams of oxen or horses to yarding logs to the road using spar trees and powerful winches, which we called yarders or 'donkeys' , drastic changes occured. Often, the logs were 1,000 feet or more from the roadside and the crew were out of sight of the man running the 'donkey'. He was usually called the 'donkey puncher'.

A method of signalling was devised. In the days when steam donkeys were used, a thin wire was stretched from the whistle on the donkey out to the back end of the setting (the area to be logged) and attached to a stump or sapling. It was kept fairly taut, so that when struck with the hand or a tree limb, it pulled on the whistle on the donkey and made it blow. This was the job of the 'whistlepunk'!!

When the 'chokermen' had wrapped the chokers around a log, the 'rigging slinger', boss of the chokermen, would holler out "yo," as loud as he could. The whistlepunk hit the jerkwire once, the whistle blew once, and the donkey puncher knew this meant "pull on the main line". The logs would be dragged in to the spar tree, where the 'chaser' would unhook the chokers and the donkey puncher would pull the chokers back out to the back end with the 'haulback. The rigging slinger would holler "Yo" where he wanted the rigging to stop at the next logs to be hooked up, and the whistlepunk again hit the jerkwire once, the whistle blew once, and the puncher stopped the rigging.
There were many signals, such as "Yo,Yo" or "Yo,Yo,Yo," "Yo,Yo,pause Yo,Yo.",each with a different meaning.

To better understand this 'high-lead' system, let me explain.

The donkey had three drums holding three sizes of steel cable, called 'lines'. The biggest, the 'main line', went from the donkey through a block (pulley) at the top of a 130 foot spar tree, down to the 'rigging' where the chokers were attached. The second biggest line was called the 'haulback'. It went from the machine through another block at the top of the tree out to the back end of the 'setting', through a block hung on a stump, across the back end of the setting, and through another block and headed back towards the spar tree, where it was attached to the rigging and main line. The third line was a small line called the 'strawline', about 1/2 inch in diameter. The main line and haulback were too big and heavy to string out to the back end, so the strawline was pulled, by hand, out to the back end and back again to the spar tree, and it pulled the other two lines out.

A good whistlepunk was an asset to the crew, for if he gave a wrong signal and the donkey puncher started pulling logs when the crew were not in the clear, death and/or injury was often the result.

When electricity was invented (I'm kidding!), the jerkwire was replaced with a two wire electric cable the size of a heavy extension cord. It was attached to a whistle on the donkey and the other end to the ;bug'. The bug was two pieces of wood about the size of your computer mouse, joined at one end with a spring. There was a small metal contact on each piece that when squeezed together would complete the circuit and make the whistle blow. This was easier and more dependable than the old jerkwire system.

In the summertime, being a whistlepunk was a great job. Lots of sun and a chance to get a tan. Winter was not so nice. Cold rain, snow, freezing winds, frigid fingers. You see, the 'punk' wasn't able to move around to keep warm. He had to sit on a stump for eight long hours and try to keep warm in winter and awake in summer.

In more recent years, radios were used by the rigging slinger to send the signals, and later he could talk through the radio to the donkey puncher directly. That was the end for the whistlepunk !!!

The glory days of logging are gone. Everything is mechanized now. I think back to those 'good old days' and wonder "would I do it again?"

In a heartbeat, old friend, in a heartbeat.

I hope you have found this story informative and interesting. I will try to submit a few more, especially the story of the Sidehill Gouger.

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http://www.pittpapa.com
Good Luck !!!