Trains in Lebanon, Oregon, on January 19, 2006

I took these pictures on January 19, 2006, near the Santiam Travel Station in Lebanon, Oregon, on the Albany and Eastern Railroad.

Albany & Eastern #5129 is a 50-foot 5347 cubic foot boxcar, one of 300 built by the FMC Corporation for the Green Bay & Western in December 1979 and January 1980 in the 16000-16299 series. Cars 16100-16149 went to the Northwestern Oklahoma Railroad (NOKL) around 1993, and later became AERC 5100-5147. This car still wears its original yellow paint, with the “Green Bay Route” logo changed to read “Santiam River Route.”

Southern Pacific #4716 is a C-50-9 Class Bay-Window Caboose that was built by PACCAR in 1980 as part of an order of 75 that would be Southern Pacific’s last new cabooses.

The Southern Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific in 1996.

This caboose was no longer on Union Pacific’s roster in January 2002.

TTX Boxcar TBOX #666396 is a 60-foot boxcar built in 2004 by National Steel Car of Hamilton, Ontario.

This boxcar was on jacks while work was being done on its trucks, which were disassembled nearby.

Albany & Eastern #3859 was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in February 1959 as 1,750-horsepower GP9 #456 for the Texas & New Orleans, a subsidiary of Southern Pacific.

After the 1965 system renumbering, it became Southern Pacific #3660.

On January 9, 1978, it was upgraded by Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops as GP9R #3859.

It was retired on February 20, 1991, and was sold on February 5, 1992 to the Willamette Valley Railway.

It was later leased to the Albany & Eastern, which purchased it in 1999.

Trains in Late 2005

Photo by Cliff West

My dad, Cliff West, took these train pictures in late 2005. First are three photos of a Willamette & Pacific locomotive in Rainier, Oregon.

Photo by Cliff West

Willamette & Pacific #2307 “Independence” is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3606. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993.

Photo by Cliff West

This bridge over Fox Creek in Rainier, Oregon, is located at railroad milepost 46.0. This wooden bridge probably dates from the railroad's original construction in 1897-98. The first train came through Rainier from Astoria to Portland on the morning of May 16, 1898. The railroad was originally called the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. On February 24, 1911 the Spokane, Portland & Seattle took over. The SP&S became part of the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970. The line to Astoria was purchased by the Portland & Western Railroad in 1996. 

Photo by Cliff West

This picture of BNSF equipment was taken at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington. In the foreground, BNSF #518 is a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40BW that was built by General Electric in October 1990 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #518.  Following the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe on September 22, 1995, it became BNSF #518 in April 2001 and was repainted into BNSF’s “Heritage II” paint scheme in May 2001. In the background, BNSF #3126 is a 3,500-horsepower GP50 built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1985 as Burlington Northern #3126. Following the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe on September 22, 1995, it became BNSF #3126 in 1999. 

Photo by Cliff West

Montana Rail Link #45028 is a Pullman-Standard PS2-CD 4427-cubic-inch 100-ton covered hopper that was originally built in March 1971 as part of lot 9532, a group of 200 such cars built for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, or Frisco, numbered from 79300 to 79499. The Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in April 1980, and these cars became Burlington Northern 439000-439199. A group of 50 of these cars went to the Montana Rail Link after its creation in October 1987, and were numbered 45001-45050. Initially painted dark blue, they were used to carry materials such as lime, talc, and decorative rock, which caused the dark blue paint to weather quickly. When my dad photographed this car in Linnton, Oregon, it had recently been renovated and repainted light gray, which was expected to hold up better than the dark blue. 

Willamette & Pacific GP39-2 #2310 "Monroe" at St. Helens, Oregon, on October 1, 2005

Willamette & Pacific GP39-2 #2310 “Monroe” is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3609. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993. It is pictured here at Saint Helens, Oregon, on October 1, 2005.

Lewis & Clark Explorer in 2005

Photo by Cliff West

To commemorate the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Oregon Department of Transportation operated an excursion train along the south bank of the lower Columbia River from Linnton, near Portland, to Astoria, near the site of Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered over in 1805-06. The train ran for the summers of 2003 to 2005, making one round trip on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. My dad, Cliff West, took these pictures of the train during its final season in 2005, around July. These first pictures show the westbound train approaching Rainier.

Photo by Cliff West

Charles Fox founded Rainier in 1851. The town was originally called Eminence, but the name was changed to Rainier in 1852. The town is named after Rear Admiral Peter Rainier of the Royal Navy, for whom Mt. Rainier in Washington is also named. The town of Rainier was incorporated in 1885. According to the 2000 census, Rainier has a population of 1,687 people.

Photo by Cliff West

On another day, the westbound train is shown approaching Rainier from another vantage point.

Photo by Cliff West

Rainier is my hometown, so it is covered more extensively than the other towns. 

Photo by Cliff West

The railroad runs down the middle of A Street in downtown Rainier. Street-running used to be common for railroads in the United States, but today it is becoming rare.

Photo by Cliff West

Later in the season, around September 2005, the westbound Lewis & Clark Explorer passes Riverfront Park in Rainier.

Photo by Cliff West

On another day around September 2005, the westbound Lewis & Clark Explorer runs down East A Street.

Photo by Cliff West

The train consisted of three self-propelled passenger cars known as Rail Diesel Cars, or RDCs, introduced by the Budd Company in 1949 and built throughout the 1950s. Budd was a major builder of railcars at the time, specializing in stainless steel streamlined passenger cars. These cars were purchased by the state of Oregon's Department of Transportation from the British Columbia Railway, which had ended its passenger service in 2002.

Photo by Cliff West

RDC's are powered by 2 Detroit Diesel Series 110 V-6 engines, each producing about 275 horsepower, giving each RDC about 550 horsepower. This is enough power for an RDC to move itself rather quickly, however an RDC does not have much power for pulling additional cars. As a result, each RDC in a consist must be operational. RDCs have a control cab at each end, and a single RDC can control all the other RDCs coupled to it. The hump in the roof at the center of an RDC contains the exhaust and cooling for the engines, freeing up space inside the cars for passengers.

Photo by Cliff West

Leading the train, ORRX #31 is an RDC-3 originally built by Budd in July 1956 for the Great Northern Railway as #2350. The RDC-3 featured a section at one end of the car for baggage and mail. #2350 became Burlington Northern #2350 in 1970 and later became Amtrak #43. The British Columbia Railway purchased the car in January 1976 to replace their original #BC-31, which was destroyed in a fire on November 26, 1973. Trailing behind, ORRX #10 & #11 are RDC-1s built in August 1956 by Budd for British Columbia Railway's predecessor Pacific Great Eastern as #BC-10 and #BC-11. The RDC-1 was the passenger-only model of Budd's RDC line. The Pacific Great Eastern became the British Columbia Railway on April 1, 1972, when it was taken over by British Columbia's provincial government. The railroad began going by the name BC Rail on June 19, 1984. These RDC's are still in BC Rail paint, with only the BC Rail heralds replaced by the Lewis & Clark Explorer heralds.

Photo by Cliff West

On another sunnier day around September 2005, the westbound Lewis & Clark Explorer runs down East A Street.

Photo by Cliff West

How the three RDCs were coupled together varied. Sometimes the RDC-3 #31 was at one end, other times it was in the middle. The three were rarely separated, so they remained as they were coupled for quite a while.

Photo by Cliff West

Near the end of the final season, in late September 2005, the westbound Lewis & Clark Explorer enters Rainier.

Photo by Cliff West

The Lewis & Clark Explorer was the first scheduled passenger service on this rail line since 1952.

Photo by Cliff West

Clatskanie takes its name from the Tlatskanai Indians, a very warlike tribe that inhabited this area. The Tlatskanai were wiped out by a smallpox epidemic in the 1850s. Clatskanie was first settled in 1852. It was originally called Bryantville. Clatskanie was incorporated in 1891. According to the 2000 census, Clatskanie has a population of 1,528 people. Unlike the other towns, which the railroad runs right through the middle of, the railroad only skirts along the edge of Clatskanie. At the west end of town, the railroad crosses the Clatskanie River on a swing-type drawbridge built in 1897. 

Photo by Cliff West

This bridge must be manually swung by a handcrank in the center of the span. This is the first of three manual drawbridges the train crosses. The bridge is normally kept open for river traffic, and is only swung closed when a train is waiting. 

Photo by Cliff West

For freight trains, a railroad employee swings the bridge. For the Lewis & Clark Explorer, the bridge was swung by specially trained volunteers. 

Photo by Cliff West

In these pictures, taken from the west side of the bridge, you can see the walkway to get to the span when the bridge is open, and the volunteer walking around the circular walkway in the middle, using the removable pole to turn the handcrank.

Photo by Cliff West

This is the bridge at which the Portland & Western freight train crew switching the Stimson Lumber mill at Clatskanie pushed a carload of lumber off the approach to the open drawbridge into the river on September 2, 2004. The train was operating on the east side of the bridge, so in the pictures it is the far approach that was damaged. Since the bridge was completely open at the time, the main span was not damaged.

Photo by Cliff West

This damage to the bridge approach closed the line for the entire Labor Day weekend, forcing that weekend's trips of the Lewis & Clark Explorer to be cancelled. The bridge approach was repaired and the line reopened in time for the rest of the season to be completed.

Photo by Cliff West

Between Clatskanie and Westport the Astoria line closely parallels U.S. Highway 30. This picture shows the eastbound Lewis & Clark Explorer in this area.

Photo by Cliff West

John West settled in Westport in 1850. The post office opened in 1863. Westport is located on Westport Slough, a side channel of the Columbia River. This location shelters the shore at Westport from the current in the river's main channel, making the slough a relatively good place for boaters and fishermen. Since 1925, a car ferry has connected Westport with Puget Island. This small ferry operation proves itself essential when construction or another emergency temporarily closes one of the bridges at Rainier or Astoria. This picture shows the westbound Lewis & Clark Explorer as it moves through Westport.

Photo by Cliff West

The town of Knappa was named after Aaron Knapp, Jr., an early settler of the area. The Knappa post office operated from 1873 to 1943. The actual town of Knappa is actually a little inland from the river, and the railroad stays close to the river here and doesn't actually go through Knappa. Two roads cross the railroad at Knappa. Knappa Road crosses above the tracks on an old wooden overpass. Waterhouse Road crosses the tracks at a traditional grade crossing. But this grade crossing is unique; it is still protected by an antique railroad crossing signal known as a Magnetic Flagman or wigwag.

Photo by Cliff West

Just north of the tracks, Waterhouse Road turns to intersect with Knappa Road, which is just to the east. The Knappa Road overpass is adjacent to the Waterhouse Road crossing, making this a very photogenic spot for train photographs. Unfortunately, the Portland & Western has no freight business this far down the line, so without the Lewis & Clark Explorer train, this area sees almost no rail traffic.

Photo by Cliff West

This type of signal was manufactured by the Magnetic Signal Company of Los Angeles, California from 1910 to 1949. It takes its name from the movement it makes; the black and white banner with the red light in the middle swings, "wigwags" back and forth. The movement is similar to that made by a human flagman while swinging a flag or lantern to stop traffic. The signal also features a bell. This wigwag was removed in March of 2007.

Photo by Cliff West

Astoria is the oldest settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. Fur traders sent by John Jacob Astor built Fort Astoria in 1811. Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County. According to the 2000 census, Astoria has a population of 9,813 people.

Photo by Cliff West

The tracks along the waterfront through Astoria are used by the Astoria Riverfront Trolley.

Photo by Cliff West

The Lewis & Clark Explorer's journey ends, appropriately enough, in front of the old Astoria railroad depot. The depot was built in 1924, the peak year for rail travel in Astoria. The railroad continued to use the building for decades after passenger service ended, but today the building is owned by the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It is closed to the public as it is in need of serious repair and is only used for storage.

Photo by Cliff West

Back in Rainier on another, wetter day, the Lewis & Clark Explorer makes one of its last trips down the middle of A Street.

Photo by Cliff West

The ditch lights on the front of the RDC shined brightly on this gloomy day.

Photo by Cliff West

The street running in Rainier ended at West 2nd Street, and the rail line ran alongside a narrower A Street from there.

Photo by Cliff West

On another day near the end of the final season, the Lewis & Clark Explorer runs down A Street in Rainier. 

Photo by Cliff West

At West 2nd Street, the train leaves the street and has its own separate right of way again.

Photo by Cliff West

After leaving the street-running behind, the railroad crosses over Fox Creek on an old wooden trestle that probably dates from the railroad's original construction in the 1890s.

Photo by Cliff West

I believe this was the last run of the Lewis & Clark Explorer on October 3, 2005.

Astoria Riverfront Trolley #300

Astoria Riverfront Trolley #300 operates on a 3-mile section of the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway's Astoria Line that the city of Astoria purchased from Burlington Northern in 1996, before the remaining 92 miles of the line were sold to the Portland & Western Railroad in 1997.

Trolley #300 was the first of a group of 14 built for the San Antonio Traction Company in 1913 by the American Car Company of St. Louis, Missouri. This group of cars had composite bodies of wood and steel, while an additional 12 cars built in1914 has all steel bodies. In 1917 the San Antonio Traction Company became part of the San Antonio Public Service Company. San Antonio streetcar service officially ended on April 29, 1933, and that same day Trolley #300 was presented to the Witte Museum, a precursor of the San Antonio Museum Association, and was run onto the museum grounds under its own power and parked, where it would remain on outdoor static display until 1948, when it was housed in a structure and superficially restored. After the 1968 San Antonio World's Fair, a new transportation museum was developed at the downtown fairgrounds, and Trolley #300 was placed on outdoor display to rot until 1980. The car was restored in 1980 and 1981 using parts from the body of car #311, which had been used as a residence after its 1933 retirement until 1978. The car was converted to standard gauge using trucks from New Orleans, and the original 4-foot gauge trucks were saved for another San Antonio Trolley under restoration. In October 1982, the restored Trolley returned to operation, providing public rides on a short section of track behind the San Antonio Museum of Art until the operation was discontinued in late 1985 due to a lack of funding and the Trolley was again stored.

Gales Creek Enterprises leased the Trolley from the San Antonio Museum Association and brought it to Oregon in June 1990 for use on the Willamette Shore Trolley line between Portland and Lake Oswego. 

Willamette Shore Trolley service began July 6, 1990, operated by Paul Class and Gales Creek Enterprises through the end of 1994. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Museum Association was dissolved in 1994 and the San Antonio Museum of Art became the trolley’s new owner.

In 1995, the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society took over the operation of the Willamette Shore Trolley. Trolley #300 left the Willamette Shore Trolley line and was stored outdoors at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum’s Trolley Park in Glenwood, Oregon, remaining there after the Trolley Park closed and the OERHS moved to Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks, Oregon in 1996. Trolley #300 was eventually leased by the Astoria Riverfront Trolley Association in November, 1998, and it was moved to Astoria in December 1998 for restoration. Trolley #300 has operated in Astoria since June 8, 1999 and was purchased from the San Antonio Museum of Art by the Astoria Riverfront Trolley Association in August 2005.

Espresso Express Caboose in Longview, Washington

This old caboose turned espresso stand is located at 745 Ocean Beach Highway in Longview, Washington. According to owners Dan & Laura Estey, it was built in 1933 for the Northern Pacific Railway, and it was eventually acquired by the Weyerhaeuser Woods Railroad as their #6 and was used on log trains around Longview. Dan & Laura Estey purchased it from Weyerhaeuser in 1996 and kept "Old #6's" Weyerhaeuser number.