From the light rail line, we had an excellent view of the lift
bridge that we had traversed to enter Portland.
Downtown Portland and the Willamette River from the city's light
rail.
Some on the Portland Vino Train passengers would go here the following day
for the beginning of the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.
The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation in Portland has just moved
into new quarters and you can walk among the locomotives being restored.
X197 from another angle.
Oregon
Railroad & Navigation Railway #197
This jewel of the early 20th Century
era of steam locomotives arrived in Portland just in time for the 1905
Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition, 2 years after the Wright
Brothers first flew, and 3 years before Henry Ford rolled out his first
Model T. She then went on to serve Portland commerce for over 50 years
before retirement in the 1950s. Residing in Oaks Parks like her sisters
since 1958, she was also moved to the Brooklyn Roundhouse and
undergoing restoration today by the all-volunteer Friends of the
OR&N 197.
--From
http://www.orhf.org/our-locomotives/
No. 700 is a massive restored locomotive, with stairs and platform
for viewing inside the cab.
Spokane
Portland & Seattle 700
Built:
1938 Manufacturer:
Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, PA
Length:
111’ Weight 440 tons Drive
Wheel: 77”
Horsepower:
5,000
Boiler Pressure: 260 psi
Fuel: Oil
Donated to PDX:
1958 Volunteer Organization:
Pacific Railroad Preservation Association
Built in 1938 as a 4-8-4 Northern
Pacific Class A design, she is close to 111′ long, 10′ wide and almost
17′ tall. With locomotive and tender weighing almost 440 tons and a
boiler pressure of 260 psi, her 77″ diameter drivers can apply 5,000
horsepower to the rails and exceed 80 mph. It’s oil fired, and features
design specified roller bearings throughout which was quite advanced
for the era.
This beautiful example of the latter
years of steam locomotive development pulled the famous Empire Builder
until that train was dieselized in 1947. She continued to faithfully
provide passenger service from Portland up the Columbia River Gorge to
Spokane until 1956, and in 1958 the 700 was ultimately placed on
permanent display at Oaks Park in SE Portland. Returned to operation in
1990, she is lovingly operated and maintained by the all-volunteer
Pacific Railroad Preservation Association.
--From
http://www.orhf.org/our-locomotives/
No. 4449 dwarfs a worker within.
Southern
Pacific #4449
The only remaining operable
"Streamlined" steam locomotive of the Art Deco era, this locomotive
pulled Southern Pacific "Daylight" coaches from Los Angeles to San
Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until
1955. In 1974 she was completely restored specifically to pull the 1976
Bicentennial Freedom Train throughout the US to the delight of over 30
million people. She is arguably one of the most beautiful locomotives
ever built—and kept that way by the all-volunteer Friends of the SP
4449.
--From
http://www.orhf.org/our-locomotives/
The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation had some nice outdoor displays
as well.
One of the full days in Portland included a bus tour of several
wineries, the first of which was the Duck Pond Winery.
Before the Duck Pond's Tasting Room
opened at 10, Bill darted across the highway and began walking the
right-of-way of the Willamette and Pacific, a railroad in the area. Later in the day, he
proudly showed me two tie nails he found dated '28 and '33.
These two ladies poured in the tasting room and led us on a tour
of the wine making facility.
Refrigerated wine tanks.
While waiting for the bus to reload, one member of our group found
some mistletoe and a couple took full advantage of it.
Soon we were on our way with some wine purchases to McMinnville
for more tasting in the many tasting rooms downtown while some continued to the Air and Space Museum.
Tom "The Wine Guy" and I teamed up and visited as many tasting rooms
as possible for future Vino Train tour destinations.
Willamette Valley Vineyards tasting room hostess, Kendra Wells.
Ben agreed with my purchase from the Willamette Valley Vineyard.
"I don't travel much by train, but when I do, I prefer an LARail car
pulled by the Coast Starlight.
Tom found a great place for lunch, the Golden Valley
Brewery.
Other tour members enjoyed lunch at one of the many
restaurants downtown.
A nicely restored Willamette and Pacific station stands on the same
main street.
The tallest landmark in town.
Panther Creek's wine tasting room downtown is in the former electric
company building "reflected" in their pinot noir below.
Back on the bus for the last tasting room, Dobbes.
Some, who had gone on to the Air and Space Museum joined us at this
final stop.
Bill always seems to be in a festive mood even without drinking
wine.
Back at the Portland station, our LARail cars had been turned and
we were ready to head southward the following afternoon.
The food was excellent at each meal. Three meals a day
underway and continental breakfast onboard while in Portland.
Lookout Lake from inside the Overland Trail.
The open vestibules of the Pacific Sands and Salisbury Beach were
excellent spots to share with other photographers as we traveled
through the Oregon mountains.
You surely get the feeling of luxury train travel in an LARail private
car when you can have dinner for two with dessert at a four-top table and spend as long as you like in
conversation after dinner.
Railfans and Rail Modelers in the group enjoyed sharing home videos on
their laptops after dinner.
Crew change stops for the Coast Starlight such as in Jack
London Square in Oakland allow time for private railcar
passengers to detrain and stretch as well.
Bill Hatrick, Overland
Trail owner, looks very official while welcoming passengers
back after the Oakland stop, as Doug Spinn and Tracey welcome Pacific
Sands guests back onboard.
Gary pointed out the abandoned town
of Drawbridge which is slowly sinking into the south end of the
bay. I've taken similar photos of dilapidated structures and sent
them as postcards entitled, "One more payment, and it's mine all mine."
Conductor Bill, a big Southern Pacific fan, knew about these bridges in
San Jose with the symbol of the fallen flag Southern
Pacific still in good shape.
Kurt Snider, right, joined us for the one-way Portland to LA portion of
the Vino Train.
Traveling south of Salinas, passengers had more time for viewing the
world go by outside their picture window and for enjoyable conversation.
