Western Railroad Discussion > Portland & Western RR Bridge in Corvallis, OR Burns

The approach trestle to the old SP West Side Line bridge over the Marys River in Corvallis burned this morning, presumed to have been set on fire by people living under the bridge. The bridge is just south of the small PNWR yard in Corvallis, OR. PNWR already has a crew working to repair the burned timbers. Traffic on the line is light, mostly to and from the farmers around the Corvallis Airport, a switching operation that has been contracted to the Albany & Eastern Rwy.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Sorry to hear that. Seems like many fires lately.

Larry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/22 22:31 by Ritzville.

Trying to figure out the provenance of the branch, looking at an old Altamont Press Timetable I'm figuring this was called the Bailey District and eventually went south to the fabled Hull-Oakes Sawmill. Guessing that makes it an Oregon Electric / SP&S / BN branch, I stumbled across this area once trying to follow SR99W a few years ago.

Visited Corvalis for WinteRail this year and the living outdoors population was very noticeable.

I've known that the Willamette Valley branches have been an interesting operation but never had time to figure them out. Doesn't look like my chance of catching a train has improved over time.

+ see the correction below.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/22 19:22 by TCnR.

This trackage was part of the Southern Pacific's West Side Branch, which once extended south all the way to Eugene (joined the line to Coos Bay at Transfer on the west side of Eugene) and north to the Portland area.  It was built in 1908-1909 by the Corvallis & Alsea River Railway.  In 1911 this railroad was purchased by the Portland, Eugene and Eastern Railway which itself was purchased the following year by the Southern Pacific.  It was never part of the BN/OE, which had/has trackage parallel some miles to the east.  Originally, the Bailey Branch to the Hull-Oakes sawmill left the West Side Branch at Alpine Junction, roughly 15 miles south of Corvallis.  Once trackage south to Eugene was abandoned, the line ended at Monroe, just a mile or so south of Alpine Junction.  Later when this was taken over by the P&W (or was it W&P), they considered the line south of Corvallis to Alpine Junction and on to Hull-Oakes as the Bailey District.

Thanks for the correction, the branches up there are a mystery to me.

The OP even says SP Westside in the post. Checking the 1983 ETT I can find parts of it scattered in there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/22 19:30 by TCnR.

I moved to Salem last summer from the Northern SF Bay Area & am amazed at the amount of abandoned grades all over the Willamette valley, enough to keep a necrofoamer® occupied for years.

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

 

4451Puff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I moved to Salem last summer from the Northern SF
> Bay Area & am amazed at the amount of abandoned
> grades all over the Willamette valley, enough to
> keep a necrofoamer® occupied for years.

Actually the abandoned grades in the valley don't even hold a candle to all the abandoned railroad grades in the forest.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Ritzville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry to hears that. Seems like many fires
> lately.
>
> Larry

P&W had a B&B crew looking at it after the fire was put out this morning.  It's reportedly superficial damage and should be reopened in a couple of days. That said, the video I saw of the fire was pretty intense.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/22 21:57 by roustabout.

The local fishwrap had this to say [my comments]:
     When the fire broke out late early Monday morning,…[was it early, or late?]
 
    “We don’t know exactly what started it, but we do know the conditions before and prior,” Jones said. [Fire Marshall for CFD + redundancy dept.]
 
    Everything south from Avery Park Drive is privately owned by farmer Larry Venell [according to the Fire Marshall]
    Venell added that the farm probably has around 400 carloads that go into Corvallis each year.
[the end]
 
In a former job I was part of a crew that inspected a tall trestle on the P+W in McMinnville that had burned twice and was still in service.  Daylight was visible through large holes in some of the pilings.
Another trestle just south of town had ¾ of one ganged stringer rotted through, still in service.  I could push a large screwdriver through the parts that were decayed.
Old timber trestles can sustain some significant damage and still be functional (but I wouldn't want to run on them!)
 
wyatt