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ANDOVER, NJ 07821 PORTLAND & WESTERN AT TUNNEL SPUR, ORE., AT THE PEAK OF CORNELIUS PASS, AUGUST 2005. PHOTO BY ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD Mountains, Molehills, and Otherwise


IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE, you’ll find an excellent story about Oregon’s Cornelius Pass, written by Robert W. Scott (starting on page 38). Your first reaction — unless you hail from the Pacific Northwest, like myself — might be a quizzical “Where?” This is forgivable. Cornelius Pass, located in the Tualatin Mountains near Portland, is neither particu- larly high in altitude nor wide in fame. It is a fairly small up-and-down grade in a fairly obscure set of hills, made by a fairly obscure railway line. Nothing terribly unique there. Yet the fact that Cornelius Pass is not partic- ularly unique is precisely why it is interesting. So often in the railfan hobby, the Big Mountain Passes of the High Iron get all the attention. Think about it. You may only have been in this hobby a few years, or months, or even weeks and it’s highly likely that some other, more well-travelled fans have mentioned the name of some great summits. Horsehoe Curve, Saluda Grade, and the famed Clinchfield “loops” are found in the east. Soldier Summit, Tennessee Pass, Cajon, Tehachapi, Donner, Mullan, and dozens more populate the west. These famous mountain crossings made by railways across the United States and Canada have drawn fans far and wide. They bring to mind long trains crawling over steep and twisting runs, with several helpers struggling to make the grade. But for every one of these famous grades,


there are probably scores of “minor hills.” Unsung slopes lurk throughout the Alleghe- ny range from New York through the Caroli- nas, and really anywhere that the topography varies from the relative ease of the Midwest- ern pastoral landscape. A number of these “bumps in the road” in so-called Granger territory often required helpers on a regular basis. One of the few hills that holds fame is California’s Altamont Pass. Located in the Diablo Range that separates the Central Valley from the Bay Area, the pass was once home to lines from both the Southern Pacific and the Western Pacific. The former was the


4 MARCH 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


original route linking San Francisco to the transcontinental railroad, while the latter was the main line that carried the state’s most iconic passenger train, the California Zephyr. The peak elevation? About 740 feet. Yet the drama of the wind-swept grassy mountains cannot be underemphasized, and the sound of diesel engines grinding up its flanks — especially at night — could never be less exciting than one of the bigger, higher passes. Of course, not all minor hills had the glamour of named passenger trains and competing railways. Most were on second- ary mainlines or branches, often the product of a need to project railway service into an untapped region using the most direct route possible. Many were lonely places, lines that saw infrequent service. And they were almost everywhere. Cornelius Pass had dozens of kin in Oregon alone, from branches thrust over the Coast Range to link ocean ports to inland mainlines, to secondary mainlines that look on profile like ocean waves. No, none of these places are mountain railroading in the strictest of senses, for few are long enough or busy enough to justify, say, helper engines. But each still offers the basic elements of drama on the railway — locomotives pulling heavy tonnage and a stiff gradient upon which to advance. Best of all, each offers the opportunity for a person to really get to know the territory, to make a more personal choice. Whether your goal is to make photographs, or just to experience and witness the railway at work, the lesser- known hills are as easy to find as an online topographic map, and each offers an opportu- nity to explore unknown territory. Everyone knows where Cajon is, but few can say where Cornelius Pass is, or what can be found there. Isn’t it time you find your own minor hill, and explore?


Alexander B. Craghead is a transportation historian, photographer, artist, and author from Portland, Ore.


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