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The Crooked River Dinner Train 7/8/2005



by Chris Guenzler



After taking pictures of the City of Prineville Railway GP20 989, I said goodbye to Bob Riskie, who had decided a month ago not to ride the Crooked River Dinner Train, and boarded the train myself. All the staff weredressed for "The Defense of Jesse James" program they would present tonight during our three-hour trip. I walked through the train to Table Car 1 and at my table, found a pamphlet called "The Jesse James Gang" presents "In Defense of Jesse James". I was joined by Margaret and Jim Taylor of Vancouver Island, Canada who would be dining with me and had ridden the train twice before. While we sat and waited for departure, a southbound BNSF freight blasted through Prineville Junction and it also started to rain, and continued to do so until well after we left.

City of Prineville Railway History

This railroad is unique that it is owned entirely by the City of Prineville and is also the oldest continuously-operated municipal-owned railroad in the United States. The line was built in 1916 as a connection to the jointly- owned Oregon Trunk/Union Pacific Railroads. Neither railroad had any intention on building into one of the oldest cities in Central Oregon, as they did not think it was on a good route. The City fathers felt that the town would die without a rail connection to the outside world and took matters into their own hands in 1911, when they incorporated the Prineville and Eastern Railroad. The 19 mile railroad was built with the use of city funds in 1916 to 1917. The junction with the Class One railroads is at Prineville Junction.

Traffic was slow to develop in the early years and in the 1930's, the city even defaulted on its bonds. Just before World War II began, passenger service was dropped as residents used cars and buses for travel. Tracks were then upgraded to allow heavier loads as freight and lumber mills increased their production in the Prineville area. In the 1950's and 1960's, rail traffic was so high that the Prineville had one of the lowest tax rates of any city due to the revenue from the railroad. Today the City of Prineville operates three locomotives with one assigned to the Crooked River Dinner Train, which is privately operated with the COP supplying engine and crew. This railroad is also home to the Mount Emily Shay locomotive owned by the Oregon Historical Society. Traffic includes lumber and forest related products, wheat, phosphoric acid and general commodities.

A Brief Crooked River Dinner Train History

The Crooked River Dinner Train was started in 1991 by owner Stephen Wright. He called his train the "Strawberry Desert Train" for the 38 mile round trip through the beautiful Crooked River Valley. The full-service five-course dinner was begun on June 29th, 1991 and was soon followed by Sunday Champagne Brunch and Excursion trains. Next came the first Murder Mystery called the "Mystery of the Last Dinner". After passengers ate, they went to a 1949 boxcar to see the Mystery. The next season, the Crooked River Roundup did the first train robbery on the Sunday Brunch train to promote the Crook County Fair. In November 1994, Pat and Joann Daly bought the train and under their guidance, the operation was in the black by 1996. They acquired their own staff, obtained a liquor license and started the interaction murder mystery the line became famous for.

The first play, "The James Gang Rides Again" was written by Teri Hisaw based on the true facts of Jesse James with a few fictional characters. The Sunday Champagne Brunch became the Sunday Supper with a Wild West Jesse James Robbery taking place on each trip. By 1997, the Crooked River Dinner Train had become Central Oregon's first-year round attraction and became known as the Jesse James Train. In summer 1999, a mobile kitchen was added to the property which made the operation of catering the food trouble-free. The food is cooked right next to the train and 15 minutes before the passengers arrive, the food is brought on board hot and ready to be served during the trip. On December 23, 2004, the City of Prineville purchased the Crooked River Dinner Train and continues to run great trips serving thousands of passengers each year.

The Crooked River Dinner Train



Power for our train was City of Prineville GP20 989, ex. Milwaukee Road 989, exx. Milwaukee Road GP9 238, nee Milwaukee Road 2388 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954..





City of Prineville Railway baggage car, ex. Lewis and Clark Railway 990, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 990 built by the railroad in 1951. This has been converted to a gift/crew car and is how you board the train and receive your seat assignment.





Ciity of Prineville Railway table car 545, nee Milwaukee Road 52-seat coach 454 built by the railroad in 1948.





City of Prinveville Railway table car 520 "Richard Browning Wright", ex. Dakota Rail 520, exx. Union Centre Venture St. Louis 1976, xexx. Amtrak 4040 1974, exxxx. Milwaukee Road 40-seat leg rest coach 624 1957, nee Milwaukee Road 40-seat coach 520 built by the railroad in 1947.





The interior of table car 520 in which I rode.

The Crooked River Dinner Train Trip

Drink orders were taken and I just enjoyed water since there was plenty of it falling outside while we were waiting for any latecomers. Also outside was a bank robber who was going to rob the train but was shot by someone aboard, although we did not know who. The conductor dragged his dead body aboard our train and we departed Prineville Junction at 7:00 PM by reversing south past the switch that would take us to Prineville then proceeded east through the City of Prineville Railway yard, passing a house with nice stone fencing, which gave it a distinct look.





With the window covered in raindrops, I tried this picture as I always wondered how it would look like and now we know.





Our route took us by ranches with cows and fields with deer grazing. Salads were passed out to the passengers and a junk yard was off to the left.





Smith Rock, a major rock climbing paradise, to the left. As the train curved off the right, we crossed an aqueduct before running along the back side of a ridge.





A really beautiful valley came into view to the northeast and the highway to Prineville was seen from the south.





Ballast cliffs overlooked the green valley floor.





The Crooked River as we travelled through the valley and wild mustard plants graced our path along this part of our journey. More of the evening's performance was played out after the dinner rolls were distributed. Later, a flume ran along the cliff to our right.





More basalt cliffs and green valley vistas along our route.





The Crooked River bent before we entered Prineville Valley and we climbed a grade and over a highway to reach the next plateau where Prineville is located. We passed a former lumber company on the left before passinig another lumber mill, producing lumber with no rail activity. At Prineville, we passed the active lumber mill with cars being loaded as my prime rib dinner was served and it was delicious. Another part of our Jesse James story was acted out before we arrived near the City of Prineville Railway engine house and GP9 1837 was sitting outside in the early evening fresh air.

Now the cast of characters sang a few songs with one called "Someone Robbed the Prineville Train". More songs ensued then we all sang "Home on the Range" with the cast and passengers doing hand signs. Our power cut off the train and ran on a balloon track through the mill and went to the front of our train for the journey back to Prineville Junction. We left here at 8:35 PM as cheesecake was served for dessert. More excellent acting furthered our story and the rain continued as we made our way back with more of the skits and singing. We all wrote on a piece of paper on our tables who we thought was the murderer. Whodunnit? I will not tell you, just come and ride this fun dinner train and find out!

Everyone settled their bills and all passengers celebrating special occasions were mentioned. I bought a Crooked River Dinner Train T-shirt and we arrived at Prineville Junction at 9:44 PM, ending an excellent excursion on the Crooked River Dinner Train. Bob was waiting in the parking lot with the car full of petrol and he drove back to almost The Dalles, where I took over for the rest of the drive to Portland, encountering some rain showers in the west end of the Columbia River Gorge. We arrived back at the Days Inn at 1:02 AM for a very short night's sleep before my last convention excursion later this morning.



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