Portland & Western #1202 in Rainier, Oregon, in Summer 1997

On July 12, 1997, the Portland & Western Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe's 91.7-mile rail line from Willbridge Junction in Portland, Oregon, to Tongue Point, near Astoria, Oregon (the line from Tongue Point to Astoria had already been sold to the City of Astoria.) In late July, or, more likely, August, of 1997, I photographed this returning eastbound train in Rainier, Oregon, with what I believe is the first locomotive to run through Rainier in full Portland & Western colors. I don't remember if this was actually its first trip, but it might have been.

The locomotive was Portland & Western #1202. It was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in October 1953 as a 1,200-horsepower SW9 for the Pittsburg & Shawmut Railroad. It was originally numbered #233, but was renumbered to #1774 and named "Ben Franklin" for America's bicentennial in 1976. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. purchased the Pittsburg & Shawmut on April 29, 1996, and this is one of four P&S locomotives subsequently transferred to the G&W's Oregon operations, and classified as a SW1200R. It was named "St. Helens" after St. Helens, Oregon, the city where most of the Astoria line's remaining business came from.