A page dedicated to my loudest, toughest neighbor,
the 136-mile Coos Bay Line, a short-line branch operated by Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad.

I like my trains. They run by the house once or twice or four times a day on no real schedule, shaking the house, rendering conversation impossible for five minutes or so, skipping the CD player, scaring the cats. Truthfully, they scare the hell out of me. I've seen some exciting and unpredictable things happen on the railroad, and next time it derails it could easily crush my house, less than a boxcar-length from the tracks. Therefore i have a vested interest in what happens on the line, and i check it out with brazen local-yokel impunity. Trespassing on railroad property is illegal and dangerous. Keep the foam on your side of the right-of-way. :)
If you stand next to the tracks to take pictures you could lose an eye or a leg or the top of your skull. Pieces do fly off and hoses burst and sometimes boxcars hit a bad spot and fall over. It's not Disneyland or the Island of Sodor. Use your common sense. If you get hurt it's your fault for standing next to industrial machinery at work. Real life IS a risk. Some people drive automobiles, smoke tobacco, have sex with strangers, go skiing or shopping, moshing, cruising,fishing, snorkeling, Sunday driving, Saturday drinking & dancing and Monday fast food lunch every day for the next 100 pounds.
i like to watch trains. :)

CORP 4001, slug 4165 and CORP 3826 idle at a crossing near MP 692 on the Coos Bay line waiting for a new crew. A set of locomotives pulling a heavy load up the narrow Siuslaw River valley from Mapleton makes a deep pounding roar that carries for miles in the quiet air. Sitting still at a low idle like this, they just sound like really huge cats purring.(3-15-07)