Steam & Excursion > Holiday Express (ORHF) pics from 12/8/2012

Here is our Holiday Express tale:

I was fortunate to be able to find a little place close to Oaks Park that I could rent for my family and I to stay in during our visit to Portland, OR. Usually, we stay with my wife's aunt in Beaverton, but this place worked much better, was closer to the Holiday Express and it was the same price as a hotel room! Picture one shows the inside, and picture two shows the view from our porch. This trip was combined with a class for work at Oregon Memorials in Hillsboro, OR. While I was touring the facility, this picture in their hallway caught my eye. The memorial is one they manufactured: does anyone know what locomotive is behind the stone?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/12 16:45 by Digger.

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Wednesday night was the ONLY night the weatherman said would be clear with no rain, so off we went to the Washington Park Zoo for their "Zoo Lights" event. If you have ever considered making the trip to Portland for the Holiday Express, it is well worth building in an extra night to go see the zoo lights. One of our afternoon activities with the kids included a ride around downtown on Portland's street car. We ended up making a visit to Portland Union Station where ORHF has a nice display- the kids were a little disappointed that the model train in the lobby was not running. Friday afternoon the consist was brought down to Oaks Park Station from the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center. The weather was just perfect! The video is a short clip of 4449 entering Oaks Park Station.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/12 13:03 by Digger.

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The boys had a great time on the train- we rode on the round end, so we had a front row seat as we backed towards the Ross Island Bridge. Santa took good care of the kids, then tried to cozy up with my wife! The volunteers associated with ORHF and all the contributing organizations hit the ball out of the park this year! Thanks for the fun and the memories- we hope to be back soon!

Chris Donhost
Vacaville, CA

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Yes, I believe that is the Shay locomotive on display in Vernonia,Ore. They tore it all apart a few years ago to rebuild it, but then discovered it was in pretty bad shape. I think they put most, if not all, of it back together again. Maybe Martin (Loggerhogger) knows a bit more about it.....

Chris sorry I missed you guys. Looks like everyone had a great time judging by your photos. The photo is of Shay Park in Veronia, OR.
http://www.vernonia-or.gov/living/parks/shaypark.asp
I sure would take a cute little shay like the 102 in my Christmas stocking. Could you put the good word in for me? I think you probably have better connections.

Chris, GREAT pictures and sounds like a great trip. Sorry I didn't get to see you and your family. Your boys don't look very happy at Union Station in front of the Pacific Northwest Chapter, NRHS
observatin platform display!! Too bad the drumhead washed out in the picture, a nice HE logo. We go through a lot of freeby material on the display....hoopefully some of it is read.

Sorry Ed's train wasn't running on "grant's tomb", someone must have forgotten to plug it in!!! Must be Scott's day off.

This is the last year for the Zoo Loop at the Oregon Zoo. The Oregon Zoo says that the Zoolights will continue to have the train operating so it will be interesting to see where it goes in 2013 as
they make major revisions to the rail line within the Zoo.....no changes to the line that goes to
the Rose Garden. I sure agree, a wonderful attraction and GREAT fun, we did it again this year with our grandson during member's night. The Washington Park & Zoo Railway is shutting down for the first six months of 2013 for this work.

So when are you moving back???
Arlen

Digger Wrote:
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> Wednesday night was the ONLY night the weatherman
> said would be clear with no rain, so off we went
> to the Washington Park Zoo for their "Zoo Lights"
> event. If you have ever considered making the trip
> to Portland for the Holiday Express, it is well
> worth building in an extra night to go see the zoo
> lights.

Chris, I wish you had come up to the cab to make yourself known. I was running that evening and would have been happy to invite you and your family into the cab. There's plenty of room in the cab of #5 and even on #1 (the steamer) it can be done if your younger son sits on a lap.

As Arlen makes note of, December 31st will be the last public rides on the 1958 1¼-mile Zoo Loop, the destruction of which (including the large railroad shop building beside the elephant exhibit) will begin early in the new year. This has actually been a one-year reprieve as it was supposed to have taken place in early 2012. I would highly suggest that anyone who wants to ride the Washington Park & Zoo Railway one more time do so before ZooLights ends because plans are changing so fast over the last few months from what were pictured on maps that were published on Metro's (not the Zoo's) website last year that it is entirely possible (though hopefully not probable) that this month may be the end of 55-year WP&Z operation. Unknown to Arlen, there very definitely will be changes on the route to the Rose Garden in Washington Park, if it survives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/12 14:41 by Jim700.

Jim700 Wrote:

> As Arlen makes note of, December 31st will be the
> last public rides on the 1958 1¼-mile Zoo Loop,
> the destruction of which (including the large
> railroad shop building beside the elephant
> exhibit) will begin early in the new year. This
> has actually been a one-year reprieve as it was
> supposed to have taken place in early 2012. I
> would highly suggest that anyone who wants to ride
> the Washington Park & Zoo Railway one more time do
> so before ZooLights ends because plans are
> changing so fast over the last few months from
> what were pictured on maps that were published on
> Metro's (not the Zoo's) website last year that it
> is entirely possible (though hopefully not
> probable) that this month may be the end of
> 55-year WP&Z operation. Unknown to Arlen, there
> very definitely will be changes on the route to
> the Rose Garden in Washington Park, if it
> survives.

They really are going to get rid of the entire railroad? Shame on Portland officials who approved this.

CPRR Wrote:
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> They really are going to get rid of the entire railroad?
> Shame on Portland officials who approved this.

Christopher, that is not a certainty but is one of the options that could easily materialize if sufficient money isn't made available for the needed construction to connect the zoo station to the Washington Park line after the zoo loop is torn out. Huge amounts of money originally dedicated to building the reorganized route and replacing the approximately 20-year-old two-track railroad shop (the "snowshed") near the elephants which will be razed have now been diverted to other zoo departments. Please understand that this is not the City of Portland's doing. The City's ownership of the zoo passed to the tri-county Metropolitan Service District (or MSD, now known as Metro) on July 1, 1976. The current Oregon Zoo is one of the many departments operated by that government entity.

Pat- thanks for the info on the shay- from that photo, it looked as though it needed some TLC. Must have been taken during the rebuild.

Adam- thanks for the link. I am glad to see that the engine has been cared for and put under cover. I will see what I can do about that Christmas stocking...

Arlen- I can hardly blame the kids for looking that way, it had been a LONG day by that point. We all needed a nap! I went ahead and replaced that pic with a video of the train at night. Too bad about the Zoo! Do you think the citizens will rise up and protest like they did for the baby elephant??? Yikes! Oh, yes. Moving back- you know, Portland is a lovely place to visit. However, it sure was nice to get back to where the sun shines more often than not.

Jim- I looked to see if you were up there, maybe you took a break on one of the runs? The engineer didn't look like you! You have always been very generous with cab rides, the boys would have LOVED that! I would say "maybe next year," but it doesn't sound like that will be an option. Too bad, I wonder if the Zoo officials have checked with the bean counters to see if that move makes good financial sense. That line to ride the train was long- seems like it should be a profitable operation!

Yes, we had a great time & I was even able to get in a couple of shifts as a volunteer. Also, several have messaged me about how I found the rental: triple w dot home away dot com

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/12 14:26 by Digger.

The official word from the Oregon Zoo is that the Washington Park & Zoo Railway will be running again mid-2013 and that
ZooLights will include train rides in 2013. So.....so far there is nothing official to protest. Jim has an insiders
view and it will be something that this Oregon Zoo member and rail fan will be watching very carefully and when/if
appropriate will be raising hell if they mess much more with this historic railway. I understand the need to eliminate
the Zoo Loop rail portion but additional cuts will cross the line.
And yes Don, I understand the need for naps.......Arlen