Steam & Excursion > This Steam Railroad Was A Treasure For All Who Saw Her Run!

How does the old saying go, "You Sometimes Don't Know What You Have, Until It's Gone."  Well that certainly fits the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern during the 1970's through much of the 1980's.

This shortline freight railroad that ran from Cottage Grove, Oregon to the Bohemia sawmill at Culp Creek, some 17 miles to the east.  Purchased by Kyle Railways in 1970, the line became a diesel freight line during the week and a steam mecca on weekends.  The main star for the steam fans was former Yreka Western 2-8-2 90-ton Baldwin #19 that had been brought to Cottage Grove and restored to operation.

From spring through fall each year, those railfans like myself were treated to some of the most wonderful steam experiences the could be found anywhere in the West at that time.  Here in September, 1980, I caught #19 and her train Eastbound a few miles out of Cottage Grove on another of her weekend steam trips.  #19 and her train is skirting through a field previously mad famous by Bustor Keaton in 1926 for train scenes in his famous move "The General" filmed on the OP&E.  5 years after I took this photo, this same field and track would again be used in another Hollywood movie when #19 would star in the famous "train dodge scene" in Rob Reiner's coming of age movie, "Stand By Me".

Yes, those of us who experienced the OP&E in this magical years of steam do miss this line.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/20 02:24 by LoggerHogger.

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Many good memories. Don't for get "Emperor of the North" which I was
lucky enough to see being filmed while at a crossing on a Sunday ride
with my family.

Thanks, Martin;

That brings back memories.  I'd forgotten that shorty baggage car they ran behind the #19!  Were the wheelsets on the #19's tender truck still different diameters?  I was told they borrowed one from a GP-30......

The Emperor of the North prop flume which was built across the tracks but only partially removed later was a great spot to grab photos.  Not only did you get a great view from right above the locomotive but you also got a smoke plume bath if the wind was right.  When they took the #19 for servicing to the other side of the I-5 freeway the motorists would get one, too, where the railroad dove under.  I've always wondered what the drivers thought who didn't know the steam operation was there.

Martin also does not mention all the attractions in the Cottage Grove yard, including numerous refugees from former logging and tourist lines as well as the #5 which showed up in the movie but I never saw run.  There was also the depot built for the movie (lettered "Salem" if I recall).  The OP&E when I was there in the '70's was still carrying lumber from the mill on the other end so you could also catch freight if you caught it right.

Other attractions were the still in place covered bridge not far away, not the highway one you could see from the train and the freeway, but the one which once carried the log trains of the Lorane Valley Lumber Co. (if I recall the name right).

I'm told the old right of way makes a great bike trail, but somehow I've never had the heart to go back.

Timothy

A while back I discovered a couple people mounted a Google Street view camera on a bicycle trailer and pedaled the length of the trail, from the park and recreation center that now occupies the Cottage Grove yards site out to the parking lot at the end of the trail, just a bit short of where the bridge across the river to the sawmill used to be. Fascinating to “drive” that grade today.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

Tim,

I went back for the first time just last summer.  It was hard to see this line as a bike trail.  Onn the upper end, it was not easy to spot all the right of way as that part was not turned into a trail.

I am glad I caught this line in operation as many times as I did.  Now these are all just memories for us who visited the OP&E.

Martin

There is one thing to hang on to; #19 is still alive!  I caught her firing up on the Yreka Western in 2008 (one of my first postings here) and the Age of Steam Roundhouse is now rebuilding her again so I may well have the chance to see her pulling once more.  It's not the same as the OP&E, but there are still memories to be made.

Timothy

When we visited Cottage Grove in 1991, there were (as I recall) three inoperable steam locomotives near our lodgings, which were probably the Best Western on the Cottage Grove Connector Rd.  What happened to them?  A non-railway movie connection, the parade scene in "Animal House" was filmed on Main St.,  One of the local businesses that shows up in the movie is Homestead Furniture, and it's still there.
 

DNRY122 Wrote:
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> When we visited Cottage Grove in 1991, there were
> (as I recall) three inoperable steam locomotives
> near our lodgings, which were probably the Best
> Western on the Cottage Grove Connector Rd.  What
> happened to them?  A non-railway movie
> connection, the parade scene in "Animal House" was
> filmed on Main St.,  One of the local businesses
> that shows up in the movie is Homestead Furniture,
> and it's still there.
>

If I remember correctly (my photos are long gone), they had a steamer from the Vernonia, South Park and Sunset tourist operation and still lettered for it, Long-Bell Lumber (Oregon American) #104; an ex Anderson and Middleton tank engine (Oregon, Pacific & Eastern predecessor); one of the ex Pickering Shays; and the previously mentioned #5 which showed up in the Emperor of the North movie.  Perhaps others.  Martin or some of the other posters here probably know more about what was there when.  As far as I know all of the locomotives they had there and you might have seen survive elsewhere.

As for the movie Animal House, I was living in Corvallis at the time of filming and some of my friends got to be extras.  The film company wanted to use one of the Oregon State ROTC drill teams for the parade scene but the higher ups said no.  So the film company provided uniforms and some of them went ahead and did it on an unofficial basis.  The movie has its moments and one for me is watching closely for familiar faces.

Cottage Grove has changed as all things do, but a close look shows a few surviving elements.  Though I haven't seen it as such, I prefer the old railroad grade as a bike path rather than reverting to pastures, trees, blackberries and scotch broom!  As a bike path it remains a transportation corrider, and the train rarely moved a whole lot faster than you're likely to on a brisk bike ride, so some of the experience remains.  But there is nothing like the bark of #19 bouncing off the hills...

Timothy

The logging locomotives that were still there in 1991, are now in Merril, Oregon.  They are part of the Fred Kepner Collection.

Martin

Thanks!  I recall reading about the Kepner collection years ago and thought the forlorn steamers were part of that.