Salmonberry Fall Colors Excursion

Salmonberry Limited Fall Colors Excursion

On October 27 and 28, 2001 Sunset Coast Excursions ran the first of two weekend excursions from Buxton (near Banks) to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast. Here’s my account of this wonderful excursion.

Offloading the train in the drizzle at Enright

October 27 started as a rainy and wet Oregon October day. When my wife and I arrive in Buxton, the Port of Tillamook Bay (POTB) train crew was busily assembling our 5 car excursion train. By 8:30 the train was put together and we began boarding. After some last minute hustling around we departed Buxton westbound.

Quickly the terrain changed from farmland to the rolling hills of the Coast Range. During this climb we crossed the Dairy Creek trestle and through the 1417 ft. Tunnel 25. After a quick stop in Timber to water the POTB 4405 we were off for the climb to the summit at Cochran. For wig wag fans, a visit to Timber is a must!

After crossing the summit and the many beautify trestles and tunnels we stopped east of the tunnel at Enright for our first photo runby of the trip.

The photo line was set up facing east outside the tunnel portal. Throughout the entire trip the POTB provided a speeder escort run by Duane (better known as POTB Speeder Duane) and his CN Rail speeder. For the first runby Duane was kind enough to backup through the tunnel and run by us ahead of the train!! Talk about a treat!

Speeder escort piloted by POTB Speeder Duane

Following the speeder was our train led by the POTB 3771 and POTB 4405 (http://www.trainweb.org/potb/rosters.html) flying old glory and the Oregon state flag.

After reboarding at Enright we continued west to the coast, enjoying the Salmonberry and Nehalem rivers along the way. Around 2pm the rain ceased and the ride in the open-air car became more enjoyable. Although many die-hard railfans rode the car the whole day anyway!!

On our way west through Rockaway Beach several passengers were dropped at their hotels. The train continued west to Garibaldi for the turn. No passing track was available at Garibaldi so the train crew performed a bit of a ‘saw-by’ move to run the power around the train. First the 3771 was put into the industry track. The 4405 remained on the train and pulled the consist west past the industry. The 3771 was brought back out on the main and backed west onto the east end of the train. The 3771, now on the east end of the train, pulled the train and the 4405 east of the industry. The 4405 was cut off the west end of the train and put into the industry track. The 3771 backed the train west of the industry track and the 4405 was brought out on the main again and backed west onto the train. Whew! After 15 minutes, this move was complete. Passengers traveling on the one-way option were offloaded.

The train continued back east toward Rockaway. Upon arrival we were greeted by a quick bus trip to our hotel provided by the local school district. Thanks to the clearing weather we were blessed with a wonderful Pacific Ocean sunset.

Pacific Ocean Sunset

Runby at the Enright tank

Sunday dawned clear and cool with the same crew of railfans taking up residence on the open-air car!! The first stop today was again at Enright. Here a steam era water tower still stands next to the tracks. With the 4405 leading, our train charges past.

After the runby, Enright became the location of our meet with the westbound ‘Hill’ train and our lunch. The POTB crew put our train safely away in the Enright spur and the passengers were allowed to roam around for the 45 minutes or so before the freight arrived.

Typical scenery on the west side of the coast range. Just on the other side of the tunnel is where Saturday’s runby took place

The beauty of the fall colors in the Coast Range comes out with the sun

The ‘Hill’ train arrives at Enright lead by the POTB 4406

After the arrival of the POTB 4406 west, we departed Enright and continued our climb east towards Cochran. The dryer weather created quite a crowd on the open-air car despite the fact the sun never actually shined on the train. I found out later the temperature at the bottom this canyon was in the upper 30s!! Too bad this shot was spoiled by a UW Husky hat (my wife and I are proud WSU Cougars).

Climbing the hill eastbound

Wolf Creek Trestle

There are many scenic tunnels, trestles, and bridges on the line, but I think the curved Wolf Creek trestle is among the most attractive. It also had many of the excursion’s riders out for a photo.

After passing over the highest bridge on the line (Big Baldwin 167 ft. high, 520 ft. long), we stopped for the last runby of the trip. The location is MP 802 ‘Twin Bridges’ The twins can be spotted in the photo under the train. The best part of this runby for fans of GP-9’s and SD-9’s was the echo of 567’s off the hills. In this remote canyon only the sounds of nature and EMD could be heard.

9's Crossing Twin Bridges

After leaving Twin Bridges we crested the hill at Cochran where we picked up a few railfans on the hunt for some photos. The downhill run into Timber was initially a bumpy one because the 4405 kept dropping in and out of dynamic brake. After the POTB crew took it offline things went much smoother. Guess that’s one of the pitfalls of working with 1950’s technology…even though that technology is still the best fit for this line!

The remainder of the trip was uneventful. Many of the passengers spent the final hour chatting with seatmates or complementing Jody and Michelle on an outstanding job on this excursion. As darkness fell the train arrived back in Buxton.

Check out the POTB railfan page at http://www.trainweb.org/potb/ and Sunset Coast Excursions at http://www.pacificrosedinnertrain.com/. Thanks should also go to the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society who supplied cars for the trip and kept them warm throughout! You can find more information about the cars used on this train at http://www.pnwc-nrhs.org.