> (Before railroads transformed the transportation of lumber, logjams had to be addressed by “jam breakers”—experts who spotted and removed the “key logs” jamming up the river.)
River transportation of lumber kept going long after railroads came along. Jam would be broken using dynamite sticks.
Here's a movie on the driving of logs on a river in the 1950s: https://www.nfb.ca/film/drave/
Driving only stopped in the 1980s on that river.
Rivers are still in use for moving log booms today - you can see them on the Fraser river and other places in and around Vancouver BC - although they tend to be more orderly, with strict regulations around the logs being properly boomed and contained..
River transportation of lumber kept going long after railroads came along. Jam would be broken using dynamite sticks.
Here's a movie on the driving of logs on a river in the 1950s: https://www.nfb.ca/film/drave/ Driving only stopped in the 1980s on that river.