They've Been Working on the Railroad

For a long time our family has gone to Siltcoos Lake for a week in the summer and enjoyed fishing, water sports, the dunes, and just hanging out. A rail line runs across multiple bridges on the east side of the lake connecting Coos Bay with Eugene. Many a time while we were out fishing we would be surprised by a slow-moving freight train rumbling up the tracks with a long load of lumber cars. The crew would wave and then head up the tracks to the sound of joints rhythmically clacking as the heavy cars thumped over them.

Originally a Southern Pacific line, it became part of the Union Pacific system when those two roads merged. UP doesn't do small and leased the line to Rail America, a short line operator, which operated the branch until 2006, when it abruptly shut down due to several tunnels that were in bad repair and too expensive to fix. Lumber companies on the south coast were forced to use trucks to get their products to market at a cost as much as 30% over rail rates. The Port of Coos Bay, however, came to the rescue.

The Port bought the line in 2009 and through a combination of Federal, state and local funds has refurbished the line. Next week the first train will head to Coos Bay to pick up loads since 2006. The track is rated for a stately 10 mph, so intermodal hotshots blasting through at 70 mph are not in the cards, but it will be nice to have our fishing outings interrupted again by a passing freight and wave to a friendly crew as they haul Oregon commerce to market.

www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/26962523-41/rail-railroad-oregon-bay-coos.html.csp

(photo courtesy of Mark Samples)