Western Railroad Discussion > Ten Minutes at La Grande

While driving feverishly toward Portland July 3rd, I managed to talk the family into stopping for a few minutes at La Grande, Oregon. I had not visited this terminal before, and was impressed with the lengthy yard and the magnificent old depot. Here's a trio of images from that brief sojourn. I spotted a sturdy track headed east toward I-84, connecting to the mainline a few blocks south of the depot. Was this by chance an active industrial lead?

James

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Not sure what time you where there, but it looks like the MHKRO in front of the depot, the Huntington local power, and yes the track that is heading east is the old Joseph branch operated by the Idaho Northern....

The valley of the Grande Rounde, beautiful area to visit and watch trains.

Just a minor correction: Grande Ronde.(pronounced: Rhond) Thanks James for the nice shots and the Railtime for the nice compliment about the area!

Bluesman


railtime Wrote:
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> The valley of the Grande Rounde, beautiful area to
> visit and watch trains.

Whew! I am so relieved. For a minute, I thought that was an AMTRAK passenger platform, which would have made you a criminal for taking photos (per their new insane photo policy--don't accept it). But I remembered the "Pioneer" is no longer running. You are thus not a criminal, and free to go on your way.

From the looks of the depot pictures, I'm willing to bet that Amtrak's report on reinstating the Pioneer will include a requirement to spend at least $10 million in La Grande alone, maybe ten times that. While you think about that, consider what La Grande looks like today without any passenger trains, and then compare it to quite a few of the "stations" that the current Sunset Limited stops at. How embarrassing.