Steam & Excursion > Some Small Towns Depended On Small Trains To Keep Them Alive!

Before the turn of the last century the West was beginning to be developed thanks to the advent of the railroads reaching the West.  Many small farming towns were able to survive and even grow if they could obtain a rail connection with the outside world.  We see just such an example of this here.

Nestled in the heart of Oregon's  Willamette Valley is the small farming community of Monmouth, Oregon.  First settled in 1853 this town served the various farms that had been created in this lush agricultural region.

When the Southern Pacific built it's line through the Willamette Valley the closest it came to Monmouth was the small town of Independence some 2 1/2 miles away.  The citizens of Monmouth did not want to allow their town to perish by being by-passed by the railroad and soon some local business men in the area banded together to form the Independence & Monmouth Ry in 1890.  This line eventually ran 32 miles of track with the shared trackage rights over the SP to West Salem and Dallas.

In this fine 1910 photo we see the heart of Monmouth which included then as it does today a Christian College.  In the foreground is the little I&M Ry train ready to take her passengers out to the SP at Independence, Oregon.

She may have been a small railroad even at the time, but her importance to those folks who depended on her was far greater than the mere lenght of her trackage.

Martin



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/16 11:50 by LoggerHogger.

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Very nice Martin.  Didn't this railroad once have a "Steam Dummy" engine?  The large building with the tower is Campbell Hall.  Today only the right half of the building shown in the photo survives.  The left portion with the tower was destroyed in the Columbus Day storm of 1962.  The college was originally founded as a Christian college, but became a State school.  It was the Oregon Normal School for years, then Oregon College of Education (my alma mater), then Western Ore. St. College, now Western Ore. U.  I don't think there is a Christian college there unless it has sprung up since I lived there.  The Ore. State Police Acadamy also occupied part of the campus when I was there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/16 08:37 by jbbane.

Great photograph, Martin!  I love the wooden plank sidewalks and a very early version of "street running."  

One correction - the town in that part of Oregon is "Dallas", not "Dalles", but I suspect that you know that.

Thanks for yet another fabulous blast from the past.

Stan Hunter
Davis, CA

I think I see Rev. George in there, visiting from the Temple in Independence...