Re: Oregon Excursion Friday
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Yup.? In the case of the OP&E it was Bohemia's decision to close the sawmill that provided that road's only traffic base.? The OC&E was a bit more complicated and stems from a decision Weyerhaeuser made in the middle 1970s to change its forest management philosophy from uneven age stand management (selective logging) to even age management (patchwork clearcuts).? This transition would require them to clear all standing timber off their lands.? The resulting substantial traffic increase is why SP and GN sold the OC&E to Weyerhaeuser in the first place, the road would need some serious upgrades in order to handle the projected amount of traffic and neither of the big roads wanted to make that kind of investment.? The solution was to sell it to Weyerhaeuser and let them spend their money.? The OC&E's end came about when Weyerhaeuser literally ran out of trees to cut in their East Side Block timberlands, and it would be decades before enough trees would grow back.
Enjoy the railroads you have while you have them, you never know what tomorrow might bring.?
Jeff Moore Elko, NV
On Sat, Mar 7, 2020 at 2:13 PM Mike Tisdale via Groups.Io <tisdalem2001= [email protected]> wrote:
Thank you, Jeff.? Sad to see the railroads go, but without a? traffic base, there really was no need for them to remain... a major problem with one commodity railroads.??
You and I met at Palisade, Nevada,? where once there was an interchange yard, shops and offices of a railroad to the mines at Eureka and when the mines stopped producing and roads were built, there was no more need for the E&P/EN and, with no more interchange, no more need for the town of Palisade.? The scenery is just as starkly beautiful there today as when the Central Pacific first built the railroad in 1868, but the only people there are the ranchers up on the hill.??
Mike Tisdale
On Saturday, March 7, 2020, 08:23:15 AM PST, Jeff Moore < mccloudrails@...> wrote:
I'll add my thanks, Mike.? Those were both unique railroads.? Both are now recreational trails, the OC&E is now the OC&E/Wood Line State Trail (operated by Oregon State Parks) while the OP&E is now the Row River Trail operated by the Bureau of Land Management.? A couple years ago some bicyclists put a Google street view camera on a bike trailer and covered the length of the OP&E.
More on the OC&E, for those who might be interested:?
Jeff Moore Elko, NV
On Fri, Mar 6, 2020 at 4:12 PM Mike Tisdale via Groups.Io <tisdalem2001= [email protected]> wrote:
You are welcome, Chuck.? Both the OP&E and OC&E lines were scenic and I'm glad that I had the chance to ride them before they vanished.
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