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Oregon Rail Heritage Center

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Coordinates: 45°30′26″N 122°39′42″W / 45.507306°N 122.661722°W / 45.507306; -122.661722
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Oregon Rail Heritage Center
The Oregon Rail Heritage Center in 2016
Oregon Rail Heritage Center is located in Portland, Oregon
Oregon Rail Heritage Center
Location in Portland, across the river from downtown
Established2012
LocationPortland, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates45°30′26″N 122°39′42″W / 45.507306°N 122.661722°W / 45.507306; -122.661722
TypeRailway museum
OwnerOregon Rail Heritage Foundation
Public transit access
Websitewww.orhf.org

The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (ORHC) is a railway museum in Portland, Oregon. Along with other rolling stock, the museum houses three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, and Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. 197,[1] the first two of which are restored and operable.[2] The center opened to the public on September 22, 2012.[3] The project to establish the center was led by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF), a non-profit organization, which was renamed from the Oregon Heritage Steam Foundation in 2002. The non-profit Oregon Steam Heritage Foundation was formed in 2000. The museum site is in Southeast Portland.[4]

Background

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The Brooklyn Roundhouse in August 2012, just before its demolition
Main article: Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation

ORHF was tasked with finding a new home for the three city-owned steam locomotives and other rail equipment, after planned changes by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) made it apparent that the locomotives would need to be moved out of their longtime home in the UP's (formerly Southern Pacific's) Brooklyn Roundhouse (45°29′30″N 122°38′43″W / 45.4916°N 122.6454°W / 45.4916; -122.6454 (Brooklyn Roundhouse)), which was a 1941-built[5] roundhouse in Brooklyn Rail Yard in Southeast Portland's Brooklyn neighborhood. ORHF comprises several partner entities, including non-profit railway preservation and railfan groups as well as the city's Bureau of Parks & Recreation.[6]

Proposals to construct a new enginehouse to house the historic locomotives were expanded to encompass a visitor area and eventually an interpretive center. After considering other potential sites for an enginehouse, ORHF reached a lease agreement in 2009 on a site near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI),[7] encompassing about 3 acres (1.2 ha).[1]

Construction

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Interior view of the new enginehouse in January 2013 with the three steam locomotives on public view

Ground-breaking for the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2)[5] enginehouse took place in October 2011.[8] The three steam locomotives were moved to the site from the Brooklyn Roundhouse on June 26, 2012,[9] and were temporarily placed outdoors, awaiting completion of the enginehouse. With the house fully enclosed (though not completed), the locomotives were moved inside on July 28.[10] Several vintage rail passenger coaches were moved to the site from the Brooklyn Yard (surrounding the roundhouse), where they had been outdoors, and they will continue to be kept outdoors at the new center. The budget for the initial phase of construction was $5.9 million, and funding has come mainly from donations, but with the City of Portland loaning $1 million.[9]

The Brooklyn Roundhouse was demolished in early September 2012, but the Brooklyn Yard's 1924 turntable, built by American Bridge Company, was removed and placed in storage. A major fund raising effort has since resulted in the turntable components being updated and restored for service, and a new pit excavated and completed at ORHC. As of October 2023, installation of the turntable is nearly complete and operational at ORHC.[11]

The Oregon Rail Heritage Center opened to the public on September 22, 2012.[3] As of early 2023, it is open for visitors Thursday through Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.,[4] with no admission charge.[9] Donations are welcomed.

Collection

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Southern Pacific 4449 leading an excursion in 2006

The centerpieces of ORHC's collection are three steam locomotives owned by the City of Portland: Southern Pacific 4449, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700, and Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. 197. All were donated to the City of Portland in 1958 and were on static display near Oaks Amusement Park at "Oaks Pioneer Park" until the mid-1970s[12] or later. No. 4449 was moved to the Burlington Northern Hoyt Street Roundhouse in 1974 for restoration and proceeded to become famous nationwide, when it hauled the American Freedom Train throughout much of the country during the United States Bicentennial celebrations of 1975–76.[2][13] It was thereafter stored and maintained at the Brooklyn Roundhouse between excursions. SP&S 700 moved to the roundhouse from Oaks Pioneer Park in 1986, and OR&N 197 followed in 1996.[2] SP&S 700 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[14]

Union Pacific Railroad diesel switcher locomotive No. 96 was added to the collection in 2016, donated to ORHF by UP.[15] It is an "SW10-class" locomotive, built originally as an SW7 in 1950 by Electro-Motive Diesel (and originally numbered 1821) and rebuilt as an "SW10" by UP in 1982. It arrived at the ORHC in 2017.

Another diesel locomotive switcher was donated to ORHF by the BNSF Railway in 2022. This is unit No. 3613, an EMD SW1000 unit built in 1972.[16] It was restored off-site and moved to the ORHC in October 2023.

In May 2023, the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society donated a 1941 Davenport Locomotive Works built 20-ton, four-wheel gas mechanical switcher locomotive SPMW No. 570, which served nearby at Southern Pacific's Brooklyn yard, to ORHF. It is being restored off-site.

The most recent steam locomotive to join the ORHF collection is Mount Emily Lumber Company Shay 1, which was donated by the Oregon Historical Society in September 2022 to ORHF. It was moved to the ORHC from the City of Prineville Railway in February 2024.[17][18] The locomotive was moved inside the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in October 2024 to begin restoration work.[19]

Several pieces of private or non-profit partner group owned rolling stock also reside at the center, including other locomotives and several vintage passenger and freight cars.[9] One of the locomotives previously was Nickel Plate Road 190, one of two surviving ALCO PA locomotives left in the United States. This PA locomotive was sold in March 2023 to Genesee Valley Transportation, and was moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania in April/May 2023.

Public facilities at the enginehouse are to be minimal initially, consisting of a few exhibits and an area where restoration work on the locomotives and other equipment can be observed, but ORHF plans to install a full interpretive center later,[20] on the building's future second floor.[9]

The operational steam locomotives are occasionally used on excursion trips, including an annual Holiday Express,[13] and the new enginehouse was sited and designed in such a way as to enable these trips to continue. The rail cars also have access to Oregon Pacific Railroad (OPR) tracks along the Springwater Corridor at this location.[21] However, beginning in Fall 2022, the Holiday Express trips on the Oregon Pacific Railroad will be handled by smaller logging-oriented steam locomotives, as the SP 4449 and SP&S 700 locos are too heavy and long for current track conditions. Union Pacific Railroad's north–south main line runs past the building, and is connected to the Heritage Center's tracks, allowing the locomotives and other rail cars to be moved onto or off of the mainline tracks.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Tims, Dana (September 21, 2012). "Oregon Rail Heritage Center ready for grand opening Saturday, Sunday". The Oregonian. p. B1. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Redden, Jim (December 28, 2007). "Running out of steam? Three locomotives chug toward homelessness, unless new site is OK'd". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Oregon Rail Heritage Center opens its doors". Official blog of Portland city commissioner Nick Fish. September 24, 2012. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  4. ^ a b ORHF Home page Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Wrinn, Jim (May 10, 2012). "In Portland, the Daylight & Co. are packing their bags". Trains magazine website. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "About ORHF". Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  7. ^ Larrabee, Mark (November 1, 2009). "Portland's locomotives will get new $3.5 million home". The Sunday Oregonian. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Beaven, Steve (October 21, 2011). "Commissioner Nick Fish breaks ground for Enginehouse & Rail Heritage Center in Southeast Portland". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e Redden, Jim (July 12, 2012). "Rail history center: full steam ahead". Portland Tribune. p. A10. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  10. ^ "Friends of SP 4449 Official Facebook Page". July 28, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  11. ^ Redden, Jim (October 15, 2023). "Historic train "turntable" project opens to the public in Portland". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  12. ^ Siemers, Erik (March 25, 2011). "Oregon Rail Heritage group gets more funding for historic-trains center". Portland Business Journal. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Ruud, Candice (November 26, 2010). "Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation steams up to raise funds for Portland's historic locomotives". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  15. ^ "Giving Thanks and Looking Forward". Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. December 5, 2016.
  16. ^ Pratt, Randall (August 11, 2022). "Burlington Northern EMD SW1000 Saved in Oregon". Railfan & Railroad. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  17. ^ "Mount Emily Shay Arrives in Portland". Railfan & Railroad. February 21, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  18. ^ Redden, Jim (February 15, 2024). "Historic steam locomotive arrives at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland". Portland Tribune. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  19. ^ "Shay moved into Oregon Rail Heritage Center engine house". Trains. October 16, 2024.
  20. ^ Webber, Angela (July 26, 2011). "Historic locomotive house gets OK from Portland City Council". Daily Journal of Commerce. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  21. ^ "Why there?". Oregon Rail Heritage Center. ORHF. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
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