Bob, Elizabeth and I left the train in Lebanon, Oregon and drove to Junction City which was incorporated in 1872 and named by railroad magnate Ben Holladay, who decided that it would be where the rail line on the east side of the Willamette Valley would meet the rail line on the west side. The westside line, however, was not built according to plan and the rail junction never materialized. Junction City later became the meeting point of the east and west branches of US Route 99, which divide in Portland.
The Oregon Electric station. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908 and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in 1910 and extended service to Eugene in 1912. After the company requested and received permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon a section of line in Portland because of declining ridership and worsening traffic congestion, passenger service was cut back to Front and Jefferson streets the following day, and OE moved its ticket office to that location. The tracks along 10th and Salmon streets were abandoned and soon removed and regular passenger service in the Willamette Valley ended in May 1933.
Electrified freight service continued until dieselization in 1945. The Oregon Electric was merged into the new Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970 and they operated the last freight train on the former OE Forest Grove branch on December 31, 1994, in preparation for the construction of Westside MAX, part of the TriMet light rail system.
At the time of our visit, the station was occupied by Rodeo Steak House & Grill but it later became The Beer Station, serving both food and drinks.
Southern Pacific caboose 4719, built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1980.
Burlington Northern caboose 12561, nee Burlington Northern 12204, built by Pacific Coast and Foundry in 1978.
Also displayed in Junction City is Finnish State Railways 2-8-0 418, built by Linne & Jern in 1904 and came from Finland in 1960 as a gift to the City of Portland. It was displayed at Oaks Park in Portland with Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland Seattle 700 and Union Pacific 3203 for a number of years before going to Junction City. Presently it is under cover and appears to be in good condition.
We drove to the former Southern Pacific mainline and waited for the Coast Starlight then heard its horn far off but also heard a horn coming from the north as it approached. Decision time, street running on the Oregon Electric or mainline Amtrak train? We all choose the street running and ran two blocks back to near the station.
A light engine moved slowly down Holly Street. I ran back to look down the street we had came from.
The Coast Starlight went through Junction City at track speed.
Portland & Western GP39-2 2305 "Dallas", nee Santa Fe 3604, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1974. Once he had passed, we went to the Rodeo Steak House & Grill for linner where I enjoyed a fantastic steak and my acquaintance Bob Riskie, a retired Amtrak conductor who was in the area for Winterail, joined us for lunch. The three of us then departed Junction City, taking Highway 99W and spotted a locomotive out at a new grain silo.
Albany & Eastern GP9 1750, ex. Albany and Eastern 3859, exx. Willamette Valley Railroad 3859, exxx. Southern Pacific 3859, exxxx. Southern Pacific 3660, nee Texas and New Orleans 456, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1959. We continued the rest of the way into Corvallis and checked into the Days Inn. Elizabeth was successful in accessing the Internet and she bought her steam excursion ticket for this year's National Railway Historical Society convention in June. Then we worked on today's travelogue and completed it before Bob came into my room and we bought his NRHS ticket.
The Winterail Pizza Party and Slide Show sponsored by Railfan and Railroad Magazine 3/17/2017We drove to Corvallis High School where Elizabeth and I turned our programs to Evan Werkema to show. Then it was out to the lobby to socialize and enjoy a Coca-Cola. At 6:00 PM, everyone went into the theater and chose their seats for an interesting evening of shows. Steve Barry, editor of Railfan and Railroad, welcomed everyone then gave some announcements and we were ready to go. The evening started with a show by Wayne Monger on the Trona Railroad, Southwestern Portland Cement and the Eagle Mountain Railroad from 1969. That was followed by Bruce Blackaddar's Trains in Cajon Pass. Greg Molloy showed us Bulgaria and Randy Nelson was next with his Cars and Trains, the Tri-Met and WES and finished with West Coast Loggers. The final program before the break was "Alcos, Ore and More - Railfanning in Eastern Quebec 1999 to 2002".
After a ten minute break, Vic Neves, Winterail producer, showed "Winter Railroading in the Winter", a National Film Board of Canada presentation. Ben Kletzer took us to the Red Sea Railway, Two Weeks of the Eritrea then Mike Pechner showed SMART Commuter Rail from Day One. After that, it was Elizabeth Alkire's turn for "A Quarter Century of Railfan Adventures and Excursions" dedicated to the late Richard Isles, who had unexpectedly passed away a year ago this weekend; he was instrumental in teaching Elizabeth about railways. I finished the evening with "A Year of Trains in the Life of Chris Guenzler 2016" and that was followed by the door prize being awarded, which wrapped up the evening. I returned to the room, worked on the travelogue up until tonight and called it a night.
On to Toledo 3/18/2017I arose early then the three of us went to Elmer's for breakfast and drove out to Toledo to see the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Museum on a very wet morning, even though they were naturally not open.
A log on narrow gauge rails.
Coos Bay Railroad crew carrier 6.
Yaquina Pacific Railroad 2-8-2 1, ex. Georgia-Pacific Corporation 1 1956, exx. Georgia Pacific Plywood Company 1 1953, exxx. C.D. Johnson Lumber Company 1 1928, nee Pacific Spruce Corporation's subsidiary Manary Logging 1, built by Baldwin in 1922.
While owned by C.D. Johnson Lumber Company, it worked along the 23.4 miles Alsea Southern, serving Camp 1 near Yachats. After Camp One shut down, C.D. Johnson Lumber Company moved the locomotive to the Toledo area where it continued to operate in Camp 12 and other operations. It was reported to be the last steam locomotive in use on the Southern Pacific Toledo branch in Lincoln County in 1952.
The steam engine was retired in 1959 and the next year, was donated to the City of Toledo, Oregon, then in 1982, it was donated to Western Washington Forest Industrial Museum. At some point, the City of Toledo took back ownership, and the YPRHS acquired One Spot in 2000.
Southern Pacific crossing signal.
Two section houses.
Museum scene.
Valley & Siletz Railroad track crane and crew carrier. The Valley and Siletz Railroad was incorporated in 1912 by the Cobbs & Mitchell Lumber Company and construction started 1913. The line was opened all the way to Valsetz by 1920, where the line purchased about two miles of track from the Siletz Lumber & Logging Company. The total length of the line was about 40 miles.
Logger's carrying van 6.
Section house and crossing signal.
Wig-wag crossing signal.
United States Railway Leasing Company box car 10966.
Southern Pacific railway post office/baggage car 5132 built by Standard Steel in 1924.
Southern Pacific caboose 573 built by the railroad in 1907 and was in service until 1965 when it was donated to the Toledo Jaycees to be used as a meeting hall. The museum acquired it in 1996 and began restoration.
Georgia Pacific 50 ton center-cab switcher 06-021, nee C.D. Johnson Lumber 8, built by General Electric in 1951. It also served the Toledo Georgia-Pacific Mill area until being donated to the museum in 2016.
Museum scene.
The former Southern Pacific station, built in 1892, now the office of Portland and Western in Toledo. We returned to our hotel for a short while then drove the very short distance to the high school and Winterail.
Winterail 2017We arrived at Corvallis High School and after turning in our tickets, were given door prize and photo contest entry forms as well as a heavy-duty plastic Winterail bag for purchases. I went directly to the swap meet where, from Joe Strapac, I bought "Southern Pacific Historic Diesels Volume 22 (Passenger Hood Units Reprise)", then went to Ted Benson's table and acquired "72-82 Western Pacific's Final Decade". After that, I joined the queue for the theatre, was the second person in line and read the Southern Pacific book while I waited. I nearly finished the book, when at 11:00 AM, it was time to open the doors to the theatre. Elizabeth and Bob took much more time to browse all the vendor tables and came away with some loot.
As we all liked the seats we chose last night, I basically chose the same ones for today and saved them with my jacket. I returned to the vendor area and at Elrond Lawrence's table, finally bought his book "Route 66 Railway Revised and Expanded", as well as "El Camino Real and the Route of the Daylight", which made Elrond very happy. I found Elizabeth and Bob browsing the slide trays then returned to the theatre and spotted my acquaintance, Nick, whom I only saw once a year and he joined me at the seat, so now we had a party of four. Bob and Elizabeth soon arrived and compared our loot. At noon, Vic and his wife Annie gave the opening announcements and rules for the afternoon, followed by a joke by Evan Werkema and Steve Barry about dead air time. Then the first show started at 12:15.
The line-up of this year's Winterail was "Boomer" by Don Marson then a program called "Before We Were Geezers" by Craig Willett. That was followed by an excellent program entitled "100 Miles From Nowhere: The Nevada Northern Railway" by Steve Carter. During the lunch break, Elizabeth shuttled me back to the Days Inn which was less than a four minute drive so we could leave our bags of purchases in the room and I picked up the memory stick that I had forgotten this morning and returned to Winterail; this had my contribution to the "Three Favourites" on it. After lunch, the next program was "Heavy Metal - The Last Decade of Chinese Steam" by Ben Kletzer", followed by "What Was It Like to Ride A Train" by Steven J. Brown. The final program before the dinner break was a preview of "The Western Pacific, First 50 Years" by Warren Haack. The Short was "McCloud SD38 - The Swan Song" by Jeff Moore, followed by the Three Favuorites which always contain interesting photographs.
During the dinner break, we went to Carl's Jr. then returned to the hotel where I printed out my boarding pass for my flight tomorrow and Elizabeth typed this travelogue. We returned to the high school and continued our tradition of taking a mile walk around the track. Once we returned to the theatre, the first show of the evening was "The Road and The Radio" by Steve Barry. This was followed by the Hall of Fame presentation where this year's recipient was Steve Barry. He really deserved this award for all the time he put in arranging the pizza party, buying pizza and soft drinks, running a great Railfan and Railroad magazine as well as presenting at Winterail and most Friday night pizza parties over the years.
Next up were the photo contest winners. In the black and white revenue division, second place went to Reed Skyllingstad and first place was awarded to his brother Dale. In the revenue colour division, Steve Carter placed second and Dale Skyllingstad was the first place winner. In the recreational black and white division, Steve Carter took first place and in the recreational colour division, Richard M. Koehler placed first. The second program of the evening was "It's Not Easy Being Green - Burlington Northern Railroad in the Pacific Northwest" by Mike Repp. The penultimate show was "Farewell to the American Loggers" by Robert Scott and the final show was "Railroads Along The Upper Mississippi River" by Scott Lothes.
This was one of the better sets of programs at Winterail as every one was excellently done and we returned to the Days Inn, after which I called it a night.
The Trip Home 3/19/2017We arose and went to Elmer's at 7:00 AM where I had a repeat of yesterday's breakfast then filled the car and drove to the Portland Airport where Bob and Elizabeth said their goodbyes and I went through the security line. After passing through security, I went to the gate to wait for my through flight to San Jose and then home.
Southwest Airlines Flight 3773 3/19/2017I waited at Gate C18 and at 11:40 AM, I was boarded. Just as the flight attendants were giving the safety announcement about seat belts, the pilot broke in and said the plane was leaking fluid. We sat at the gate and a mechanic was called, which made me wonder that since the aircraft had sat here overnight, why no one else apart from the pilot noticed the leak. The engine had to be revved up but no leak was found but I was able to see inside the engine from my seat. We then waited for the paperwork from the mechanic before the door could be closed and the whole safety announcement was given.
We taxied and left Portland one hour and twenty-five minutes late and I saw the Coast Starlight approaching Vancouver just after take-off. We flew to San Jose where those passengers deplaned, then the new ones boarded. Both flights were above the clouds so there were just a few clear views until we neared home, landing at Orange County at 4:25 PM, or 1 hour and 10 minutes late. My mother picked me up and that ended this year's trip to Winterail 2017.
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