Get trained in Toledo History

All aboard for the first field trip of the year with the Newport 60+ Activity Center this Saturday, Jan. 6, to explore the history of Toledo.

The outing will begin with a tour of the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society Museum, which hosts a collection of railroad artifacts, locomotives and antique rail cars, including the Southern Pacific Railroad Post Office car. The museum also houses the first and last engines bought by the various C. D. Johnson companies that owned Toledo’s lumber mill from the 1920s to the 1950s. The Baldwin steam engine, known locally as “One Spot,” was used in Lincoln County logging from 1922 to 1959. The 45-ton switcher engine, called “Lokey” by mill workers, was purchased in 1951 and was donated to the historical society by Georgia Pacific, with a dedication ceremony in 2016.

After a stop for lunch downtown, the group will head to the Toledo History Center, which houses a collection of Toledo’s past: photographs, displays, oral histories, historic news articles and more.

Highlights at the museum include an 1800s model square rigger complete with masts, rigging, and lifeboats; remnants of the town’s history as a butter churn manufacturing center; a replica of the former Ross Theater, which was featured in the movie “Sometimes A Great Notion;” and photographs, tools and other artifacts that chart Toledo’s evolution as a major regional logging center at the end of the railroad line.

The van will depart from the Newport 60+ Activity Center at 10 am and return by 5 pm.

Cost is $10 for 60+ members and $15 for non-members. The Newport 60+ Activity Center is located at 20 SE 2nd Street. For more information and to register, go to newportoregon.gov/sc and click on “Browse the catalog and register,” or call 541-265-9617.