Elizabeth and I arose at the Quality Inn in Craig and following our morning preparations, we checked out and had breakfast at Cool Water Grille with me having a waffle and bacon. We then departed Craig and drove towards Interstate 80 but Elizabeth pulled off after I spotted a train.
Union Pacific 6442 West with Union Pacific C45ACCTE 5426 and mid-train DPU Union Pacific AC44CW 6433, C45ACCTE 5328 and C44AC 6228 with rear DPU Union Pacific SD60M 2737.
Union Pacific 7435 West with Union Pacific C44ACM 6204 and SD70M 4156 and mid-train DPU ES44AC 5427 and SD70ACe 9070. Here we met Mike, scouting locations for the Big Boy's return. We drove to Green River and I took a couple of pictures from the car.
The famous butte in Green River and the highway tunnel. We continued on to Little America, where Elizabeth bought us each two 75 cent ice cream cones which we ate inside so they would not melt. I drove us towards Pocatello, Idaho and we stopped for petrol in Soda Springs and made another stop shortly after.
The Galloping Goose, also known as the Conda Rail Bus. In 1960, J.R. Simplot gave the bus to the Willard Paulsen family of Conda. The bus was moved the Soda Springs Golf Club and was painted red. The Paulsen family gifted the bus to the city of Soda Springs and it was installed in Carrigan Park.
Memories of Conda, a Compamy Community, history board.
Conda Mine, a Phosphate Fortune Unearthed, history board.
The Galloping Goose donated to the City of Soda Springs May 1985 donation plaque.
I drove us into Pocatello and we went to Ross Park.
Union Pacific 2-8-2 2005 built by Baldwin in 1911. Retirements of this class of steam engine started in 1947, although 2005 served on the Oregon Short Line until the early 1950's. It was donated to the City of Pocatello in 1958
Oregon Short Line caboose 2662, ex. Union Pacific 25784, built by Mount Vernon Car Manufacturing Company in 1923. It never ran on the Oregon Short Line Railroad.
Union Pacific DD40AX 6901 was built by Electro-Motive Division in 1969. Between 1969 and 1971, forty-seven of these units were built and were named "Centennial" in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Driving of the Golden Spike on May 10th 1869. This is one of fifteen preserved.
Designed for high-speed freight, by 1980 the Centennials had accumulated an average of 2 million miles each. With the decline of freight movement in 1980, however, the fleet was taken out of service and put in storage at Yermo, California. A March 1984 economic upturn recovery brought twenty-five back into service, but high maintenance costs had led to the retirement of most of them by the close of 1986.
Union Pacific Pocatello station built in 1915. The first floor of the Oregon Short Line passenger depot is constructed of dressed grey ashlar; the remainder is of red brick. Three massive round arches mark the street-side entrance; the brick over the arches is laid in a decorative herringbone pattern. Unaltered on the exterior, the depot also retains a great deal of its early interior design. In addition to housing the passenger depot, the building contained the offices of the Montana and Idaho divisions of the Oregon Short Line. U.S. President William Howard Taft attended the station's dedication, held on August 20, 1915.
Pocatello, located in the southeast corner of Idaho, has long been the state's second city, even though it ranks fifth in population due to growth in the Boise Valley in recent years. Named after the Chief of the Shoshoni tribe and located near the route of the Oregon Trail, Pocatello was founded in 1882 as an important stop on the first railroad in Idaho. Once the Oregon Short Line connected Portland with Omaha, Pocatello developed into a significant rail repair shop. It would soon serve as the gateway to the Montana copper fields and later become an important center for agriculture. While the original town site (today’s historic district) was formed on the western side of the rail yards, a lack of space prompted growth on both sides of the extensive rail yards. Thus, the city grew as two distinct halves of an urban whole.
The two of us went to Elmers Restaurant for dinner and I had a Prime Rib sandwich which was excellent and Elizabeth enjoyed the roast turkey dinner before we drove to the Red Lion Inn for the night.
7/19/2024Elizabeth and I arose in Pocatello and after our morning preparations, we drove to International House of Pancakes and I had a waffle and pork sausage links and Elizabeth had strawberry and banana French toast. We then drove Interstate 86 to Interstate 84 to Rupert and Elizabeth spotted the station.
Oregon Short Line Rupert station built in 1906.
The station display board.
Union Pacific center cupola caboose 25122, nee Union Pacific 3822, built by Pullman in 1944 and donated in 1983.
Union Pacific 40 foot stock car 424307 built in 1914.
Union Pacific box car 101844 built by the railroad no date.
We drove over to Idaho Highway 24 and had to stop when we saw a locomotive.
Austin Western GP50 5001, ex National Coal/WAMX 5001, exx. First Union Rail 2907, exxx. Union Pacific 5543; nee Chicago and North Western 5057, built by Electro-Motiven Division in 1980.
From here I drove west to Jerome.
Oregon Short Line Jerome station, year of construction unknown.
Blue Star Memorial Highway historical sign.
Oregon Short Line baggage cart.
Oregon Short Line baggage cart built in 1910.
We left Rupert with Elizabeth driving and I saw a locomotive of a railroad I did not expect to see in Idaho.
Lansing Grain Company GP9 4517, ex. JD Heiskell 4517, exx. American Energy 4517, exxx. Grand Trunk Western 4517, nee Grand Trunk Western 4917, built by Electro Motivre Division in 1957.
We continued to Caldwell.
Union Pacific Caldwell station built in 1906.
Plaque of the Caldwell station.
A mural on the wall opposite the station. Next Elizabeth drove to Ontario, Oregon.
Union Pacific Ontario station built in 1907. Its Romanesque Queen Anne style makes it one of the most distinctive buildings in Ontario and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Although freight trains still travel the tracks behind the building, the depot no longer serves its original purpose. Today it serves the community as a venue for meetings and celebrations. The depot is owned by the City of Ontario and houses the Ontario Basque Center in its north end. As per the 2007 lease agreement with the city, Ontario, Oregon Basque Club maintains and administers the private and public rentable spaces within the depot. All rental proceeds return to the depot building for maintenance and improvements.
During the station's active years, campaigning politicians sometimes made whistle-stops at the station to give speeches, among them being Harry Truman and Richard Nixon. Senator Robert F. Kennedy passed through just four days before his death. Amtrak began service to the station in 1977 with the Pioneer, which originally provided service between Salt Lake City, Utah and Seattle, Washington, but was eventually extended further east and provided daily service from Chicago, Illinois to Seattle. The next eastbound stop on the Pioneer was in Nampa, Idaho and the next westbound station was in Baker City, Oregon.
I drove us to La Grande where I put petrol in the car.
On the way there a Union Pacific train in motion.
Union Pacific La Grande station built in 1930. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company built the railroad through La Grande, completing the line in 1884. The line was built from the west to connect with the Oregon Short Line Railroad at Huntington, Oregon. This offered connections with the Union Pacific Railroad, allowing connecting service to points as far as Omaha, Nebraska. La Grande was established as a "division point" for the railroad, and a rail yard, roundhouse and other maintenance shops were also established near the depot. By 1890, both railroads were controlled by the Union Pacific, and it was established on its main line to Portland and Seattle. A branch line was also constructed from La Grande to Elgin in 1890, and extended to Joseph in 1908. The addition of the railroad to La Grande was seen as an "enormous influence" and it was estimated that a quarter of homes in the city were owned by railroad employees in 1925.
The first depot in La Grande was built in 1884 but was destroyed in a fire circa 1890. The second depot was destroyed in 1904 and a third depot was built to replace it, near Jefferson Street and Depot Street. The existing structure opened in December 1930 and was built out of stone, in contrast to the previous three wooden depots and was designed in a Mediterranean Revival style by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who designed twenty other Union Pacific stations across the country. It was noted as one of Underwood's last stations designed, due to the Great Depression in the 1930's. The station was built with two floors, with the ground floor containing waiting rooms, a ticket office, bathrooms and baggage/freight areas. The second floor was not for public use, and used for Union Pacific offices. The exterior of the second floor contained terracotta panels, with "La Grande" and the logo of Union Pacific inscribed.
The station was primarily served by cross-country trains such as the City of Portland, Idahoan, Pacific Limited and the Portland Rose, all of which provided connections to Portland, Omaha and Chicago, among others. All Union Pacific passenger service ended on April 31, 1971, with the creation of Amtrak. La Grande was originally not on the initial services offered by Amtrak and the closest service was the North Coast Hiawatha, on the former Northern Pacific Railway main line.
Amtrak service to La Grande began on June 7, 1977, with the formation of the Pioneer, operating between Seattle and Chicago. Work was previously performed to bring La Grande up to Amtrak standards. The Pioneer served La Grande until a Congressional-funded mandate expired on May 10, 1997, and no deal was worked out between state governments to continue funding. Passenger service has not existed to La Grange since 1997, although efforts have been made to restore the route. In 2009, Amtrak published a report under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 in order to determine the feasibility of returning Pioneer service. However, no major developments to restoring service have been made since the study was released. A 2019 study by the Oregon Department of Transportation concluded that the present location would be most ideal for the resumption of service.
The station is currently still used as a Union Pacific office and La Grande is still operated as a division point, marking the beginning/end of the La Grande and Huntingdon Subdivisions, respectively. The former ticket area is used for dispatching and office space while the former baggage rooms contain storage and more office space. The branch line from La Grande to Joseph was sold to the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad in 1993. La Grande has been noted by Union Pacific as being "an important operational and crew change point." Greyhound Lines provides Amtrak Thruway service at a station on East Penn Avenue in La Grange on a Portland–Boise line.
Elizabeth drove us Pendleton where we had dinner at Shari's where I had top sirloin and Elizabeth had Chicken Florentine. Afterwards, we drove down to the station.
Union Pacific center cupola caboose 3765, ex. Union Pacific 25065, built by Mount Vernon Car Company in 1942.
Union Pacific Pendleton station display board.
Union Pacific Pendelton station built in 1907 by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and now houses the Umatilla County Historical Societies Heritage Station Museum. We then checked into the Hotel Pendelton for the night.
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