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Oregon California & Eastern Railroad Weyerhaeuser Timber Company Ballast Hoppers |
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Almost every railroad needs some form of car to distribute ballast along the tracks during track maintenance or upgrade activities. While Weyerhaeuser did not typically ballast their log spurs, the company
did ballast their main lines using a small fleet of "logger special" ballast cars in the early years and then several bottom dump ballast hoppers in later years. Weyerhaeuser bought eight ballast cars for the OC&E
after purchasing the railroad, four bottom dump cars and four side dump cars. |
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 Weyerhaeuser "loggers special" ballast car #231 got stranded at a cinder pit north of Sycan. The car sat in this position for years until Martin Hansen acquired the car and moved it to Prineville for a planned restoration for use with the former Mt. Emily Lumber Shay #1 that never came to pass. The disassembled pieces of the car remain in Prineville as of this writing. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  Another view of the #231 abandoned at the cinder pit. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  John Henderson later photographed the pieces of the #231 in Prineville adjacent to the City of Prineville shops. The car has since been relocated to some open ground off the rails but still near the enginehouse. Jeff Moore collection.  The body of an old side dump hopper on the ground at Sycan in 1973. Jerry Lamper photo.  Weyerhaeuser drop bottom hopper #099 used in dedicated ballast service. Yellow Pine & Pacific slide, Jerry Lamper collection.  Weyerhaeuser ballast car #070 at Sycan. The doors on the bottoms of these cars could be positioned so as to dump the ballast either outside of or between the rails. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  A later shot of Weyerhaeuser ballast car #070 at Sycan on 28 August 1984 showing its Union Pacific heritage. Jerry Lamper photo.  Weyerhaeuser ballast car #091 at Sycan. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  Weyerhaeuser ballast cars #094 and #095 on an OC&E freight in Klamath Falls. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  Another shot of Weyerhaeuser ballast cars #094 and #095 on an OC&E freight. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection. 
A top down view of the ballast loads in cars #094 and #095 near Dairy. Later photos John shot of the train showed the loads had been dumped along the line by the time the train reached the Bly Mountain
switchbacks. John Henderson photo, Jeff Moore collection.  OC&E bottom dump ballast car #105 at Sycan on 28 August 1984. Jerry Lamper photo.  OC&E side dump hopper #109 in Sycan on 28 August 1984. The lettering seems to show the car formerly belonged to the Oliver Iron Mining Company. Jerry Lamper photo. |
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