Welcome to the t-rainy season
By Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
Early train travel was not a smooth ride. Rough, sometimes uneven tracks over often unforgiving terrain meant that, down to the dinnerware, everything that needed to survive even a short trek needed to be built to last.
For train enthusiasts, this robust construction results in paraphernalia galore, as well as the chance to see trains operating today that were built well over a century ago.
One such impressive collection, curated by the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society, actually lives in decommissioned trains at the group’s Toledo-based museum. Train cars on display include the 1907 Southern Pacific wood-sided caboose that serves as the office and gift shop; a 1923 Southern Pacific Railway Post Office car that houses displays and is one of only about 25 restored RPO cars; and the visually striking Baldwin steam engine, known locally as “One Spot,” used locally for logging between 1922 to 1959 and now features a few places for kids to board.
Yet the most popular of the group’s collection to date is so new the paint looks like it’s still drying.
“Last year we built a kid-sized play train,” said president Alan Holzapfel. “It was financed by the Siletz Tribe and it is hugely popular with the little ones.”
So popular that Holzapfel, who usually deals with cheerful existing or newly minted railroad enthusiasts, saw an attitude shift caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
“The most unhappy I’ve seen people here were mothers with sons when we had to close off that train,” he said. “It sure was a relief when we could open it back up again. That’s a big source of our local traffic and it’s fun to see it being enjoyed.”
Another kind of visitors who make tracks to the museum are model train enthusiasts.
“We have over 10,000 digitized photos.” Holzapfel said. “People love to do scale models of actual trains, so we’re a very popular resource for that. We also have a few HO-scale models of the box cars that things are shipped out in today. Those are really popular since they are replicas of real local working cars.”
HO scale is the most popular ratio for tabletop train sets, with a scale of 1:87.
The local working cars run on tracks created for the former Oregon Pacific Railroad, completed in 1880. After a series of sales, mergers and sections of track left abandoned, there is still today a working route that connects the Georgia Pacific Mill in Toledo to Albany.
“We’re a railroad museum adjacent to a working railroad,” Holzapfel said “When they bring in a train, it gets split here into northern and southern routes at the section house. Full chip cars come in, and box cars go out filled with cardboard. Ninety-five percent of the train traffic here is from the GP Mill. We see about a train a day.”
The working trains add an extra layer of charm to already-scenic local spots. For example, when they pass near Elk City and the colorful cars reflect off the Yaquina River; still close enough that you can hear them blow the mournful train whistle.
And depending on your personal taste, you might or might not find some of the stylized graffiti that decorates many of the cars to be an enjoyable replacement for the kind of marketing that was once emblazoned on their sides.
“They used to have billboard cars but that got to be too expensive,” Holzapfel said. “I’ve heard that the company has made a tacit agreement with the artists that as long as the art doesn’t cover any identifying marks, they would not paint over it. There are even two chip cars that are decorated with University of Oregon and Oregon State University logos.”
The museum is free to visit and offers docent tours on a walk-up basis, though donations are very welcome to help with operations.
“We also have a gift shop that’s very kid-friendly, with things like conductor’s hats and model trains,” Holzapfel said. “We also love to have dogs in to visit; we even have water dishes for them.”
One of the best times to visit is comin’ round the corner.
“We do a big Christmas display,” Holzapfel said. “We have lots of regular visitors who come for that. The trains look extra magical then.”
The museum is located at 100 NW A Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 am to 2 pm. For more information, go to www.yaquinapacificrr.org or call 541-336-5256.
Once your appetite for train travel has been stoked, take a ride on an historic locomotive, on one of two special excursions operated at the end the year by the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OCSR), a non-profit group formed in 2003 whose members are actively working to revive and restore steam and diesel locomotives, train cars and even the tracks the trains ride on.
Fall Splendor
Most OCSR rail tours run on a stretch between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach but, each fall, the train makes a right turn in its route to take advantage of the colors that the season brings ever so briefly.
Leaving from Wheeler, the ride, powered appropriately by a pumpkin-colored diesel locomotive, travels north along the coast, passing active dairy farms and the Nehalem Bay Winery before turning east to follow the Nehalem River.
Open cars afford the best viewing and photo-taking opportunities, but there is also an enclosed car where passengers can stay warm while still enjoying the view. To enhance the experience, the conductor and other on-board volunteers do a great job alerting passengers to upcoming photo ops.
The trip is roughly eight miles long, pausing near the “town” of Batterson, where the engine detaches from the train and heads on a parallel track to rejoin the cars on the other end for the jaunt back to Wheeler. The break affords the chance to stretch the legs with a short walk to the Nehalem River, past a large, old-growth spruce.
Candy Cane Express
This special winter trip includes hot cocoa and cookies served on train cars lit up with Christmas lights to add festivity to the evening. This round-trip excursion departs Garibaldi and runs to Rockaway Beach for a total of one hour.
Though there is no stop in Rockaway Beach, the train operates on the coastal route that features quite a bit of variety within a five-mile stretch, including the ocean, Tillamook Bay and Smith and Spring Lakes.
OCSR was started in 2002 by Scott Wickert, who had envisioned a working steam railroad and an antique railroad museum on the coast and, since then, Wickert and crew have accomplished a lot.
“When they started this, there were only two open train cars, and the gal selling tickets had to sit on an outside table no matter the weather,” said conductor Dennis Murphy. “We now have covered cars with padded seats, and the nice depot in Garibaldi. Every year we have a few big things finished.”
One of the active projects is the preservation of the century-old Tillamook Depot, which saw regular passenger service from 1912 until 1932 and continued to serve occasional passenger and freight trains until it was finally closed in 1977. In recent years, OCSR dismantled the depot and reconstructed it adjacent to Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook. This new location will include a new rail spur connecting the depot to the existing rail line and will one day offer regularly scheduled excursions from the Blue Heron.
OCSR welcomes well-behaved dogs, but be warned, even the most mild mannered might get spooked by the train whistle and metal-on-metal sound of the wheels on the track, so bringing only those types of pooches who can sleep through a fireworks display on the Fourth of July is recommended. Pet owners should check before purchasing tickets, as train car configurations have resulted in no open cars and people who have arrived with their dog were regretfully turned away.
The Nehalem River Fall Splendor Excursions run weekends through Sunday, Nov. 15, when the schedule changes to the Candy Cane Express, running weekends from Saturday, Nov. 28 until Sunday, Dec. 20. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and veterans and $18 for children aged three to 12. Children under three years old are free. Children’s tickets for the Candy Cane Express are $15. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.oregoncoastscenic.org.