Western Railroad Discussion > Albany and Eastern in Shelburn, OR

Today I was called to run a couple of box cars from a plywood mill in Mill City to Lebanon, Oregon. I drove to Mill City and started up my power for the day. GP-35 #2501 is a remote control equipped locomotive. Because of the small amount of work the Mill City job on the Albany and Eastern Railroad is usually a one man job.

About half way between Mill City and Lebanon is the small community of Shelburn. Once upon a time Shelburn was the junction between the Oregonian Railway and Corvallis and Eastern Railroad. The Oregonian Railway ran south from Woodburn to Springfield. The C&E ran between Albany and Mill City. Today all that remains is the line south from Shelburn to Lebanon and east toward Mill City. The line to Albany was removed in 1930 and the line north was removed in 1963. Both of these railroads were absorbed in to the Southern Pacific.

After stopping and securing my train I stepped out to take a picture of my train next to the water tower in Shelburn, being the engineer on the train sure makes chasing easy. I guess that is one advantage of working on a small short line railroad.

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Nice photo. You could also spot your train at a hard-to-reach location and capture it on film. Back in 1990 I followed Espee's Mill City Local from Mill City to Lebanon. The train consisted of one SD9E, two boxcars and a caboose. That train and crew really captured the atmosphere of branchline railroading that day.

Saw you as you passed through Lyons. How did you retrieve the vehicle you left in Mill City?


Marty Bernard

Neat shot Aaron. Thanks for posting.

Martin

The vehicle will be picked up by the next crew to go to Mill City.

VERY nice, classic picture...and interesting history. Thanks for sharing your job. Arlen

Aaron,
love it!! I too work for a small shortline where we have been known to stop the train and secure it for photos.
Mark Mautner
Respondek Railroad