Oregon and Northwestern Railroad

Oregon and Northwestern Railroad

Oregon and Northwestern Railroad boxcar with CRANDIC markings at Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Locale Between Hines and Seneca
Dates of operation 1928–1996
Predecessor Malheur Railroad
Length 50.2 miles (80.8 km)

The Oregon and Northwestern Railroad (O&NW) evolved from the defunct Malheur Railroad in 1928 and eventually ran 50.2 miles (80.8 km) between Hines, Oregon, and Seneca,[1][2] along the present-day route of the U.S. 395 in Oregon. The Edward Hines Lumber Company, or Edward Hines Western Pine Company, purchased the Malheur Railroad from Fred Herrick in 1928 and expanded the railroad's network in order to make the company's lumber mill more easily accessible from logging locations. The company planned to log 120,000,000 board feet (280,000 m3) of lumber each year.[1][3]

The railroad received its permit from the Interstate Commerce Commission and became a common carrier on 24 June 1929. Charles John Pettibone was the superintendent of the railroad and assistant manager of the lumber company.[3][4]

In the 1940s, most of the logging was done in order to supply airplanes for the U.S. Army. During this time, the FBI had been deporting Japanese Americans following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, but the lumber company needed new workers. Most of the company's original workers had gone to war. The company began to recruit Japanese Americans for the railroad. Each person was obliged "to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States" before beginning to work.[5]

The lumber company owned and operated the railroad, which had 19 trestles,[5] for many decades, but by December 1981, demand for lumber had declined. The company was producing at only one quarter of capacity and employed only 12 workers for the railroad. At the time, it had 229 total employees, which was nearly four times fewer than its peak number, 900. Many workers had been laid off in 1980.[6] The railroad was completely abandoned in 1990 because of damage from the flooding of Malheur Lake and because it was no longer profitable for the logging industry.[7] Four years later, in 1994, the railroad's 475-foot (145 m) tunnel, which had not been used since 1984, was closed to the public because its ceiling was beginning to collapse.[8] Although the tracks were not well-built either,[5] the railroad has been well-preserved.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Repp, T. O. (1989). Main Streets of the Northwest. Trans-Anglo Books. p. 78. ISBN 9780870460852. http://books.google.com/?id=_tIeAQAAIAAJ&q=Main+Streets+of+the+Northwest:+Oregon.+Idaho.+Montana&dq=Main+Streets+of+the+Northwest:+Oregon.+Idaho.+Montana. 
  2. ^ Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide (Fifth ed.). Waukesha, Wis.: Kalmbach Publishing. p. 360. ISBN 0890242909. http://books.google.com/?id=3i6K_Nf9e2EC&pg=PA360&dq=Oregon+and+Northwestern+Railroad#v=onepage&q=Oregon%20and%20Northwestern%20Railroad&f=false. 
  3. ^ a b Oregon News Bureau (25 June 1929). "Permit given railway". The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.): p. 3. http://libweb.uoregon.edu/dc/newspaper/article.php?newspaper=oregonian&id=441505. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
  4. ^ Society of American Military Engineers (1930). Directory of Members, Constitution and By-laws of the Society of American Military Engineers. 22. Society of American Military Engineers. http://books.google.com/?id=peJAAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Oregon+and+Northwestern+Railroad%22&dq=%22Oregon+and+Northwestern+Railroad%22. Retrieved 17 June 2011. 
  5. ^ a b c "The story of Trout Creek Camp". The Blue Mountain Eagle (John Day, Ore.). 1 October 2009. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MTOR&p_multi=MTEB&p_theme=mtor&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=12B168AAE624DCB0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 17 June 2011. 
  6. ^ "Partial reopening stirs optimism at lumber mill". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon): p. B3. 29 December 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q5BTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t4YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4460,64464&dq=oregon-and-northwestern-railroad&hl=en. Retrieved 17 June 2011. 
  7. ^ Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2004). When the Railroad Leaves Town. Kirksville, Mo.: Truman State University Press. p. 228. ISBN 1931112142. http://books.google.com/?id=kzk_m4P9Y6kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=When+the+railroad+leaves+town:+American+communities+in+the+age+of+rail+line+abandonment#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  8. ^ "Historic railroad tunnel ruled unsafe, shut to public". The Oregonian: p. C2. 1 September 1994. 
  9. ^ Edwards, Brian. "Burns to Seneca: The Oregon and Northwestern Railroad". Abandoned Rails. http://www.abandonedrails.com/Oregon_and_Northwestern_Railroad. Retrieved 17 June 2011. 

External links

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See also: List of United States railroads by political division