passenger trains, and TriMet light rail vehicles operating next to Union Station and over the upper deck of the landmark Steel Bridge. Union Pacific’s Lake Transfer runs daily between Albina Yard and Lake Yard, via the Steel Bridge and Union Station. Look for it to come out of Albina in the morning and return in the afternoon. The 663 often crosses the Steel Bridge around midday on its way to Vancouver, and in the late afternoon or early evening on the way back to Tigard. Other daytime photography options
on the P&W include the Wauna Turn on the Astoria Line, the Willamina Local, and the OE Express. The Wauna Turn usually goes all the way to Wauna only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Willamina Local operates on weekday afternoons out of Whiteson, just south of McMinnville, a vestige of the lumber branch operations that were once so common in the Pacific Northwest. The OE Express runs weekdays from Tigard to Albany and back, although I find this part of the OE more challenging to photograph than the line south of Albany.
Outlook The global financial crisis of 2007-
2008 hit Oregon and the P&W especially hard. Brought on largely by the housing
market, new-home construction plummeted, and demand for Oregon timber fell with it. P&W cut some jobs and reduced others. The Toledo Hauler had been a seven-days-a-week operation well back into the SP era, but service dropped to five days a week in 2009. Some of the business has come back, and as of early 2016 the train runs six out of seven days. P&W management has worked to diversify the railroad’s traffic base. Acquisition of the former Burlington Northern Astoria Line and Oregon Electric added considerable non-timber traffic to the P&W’s mix. Still, this is a timber-hauling railroad in a timber- producing state, and timber (plus related industries like pulp and paper) will continue to play a primary role in the P&W’s fortunes.
Love the Rain The Portland & Western lies entirely
in the wet part of Oregon, west of the Cascades, where annual rainfall frequently exceeds 100 inches. You can still find a lot of sunshine in the summer and early fall, but consider embracing the rain. The P&W’s orange locomotives contrast beautifully with the lush green forests, especially in the rich saturation of western Oregon mist. The even light eliminates harsh shadows that can make sunny-day photography a challenge in the deep woods and valleys of the Toledo Branch.
Out in the Willamette Valley, between
the Coast Range and the Cascades, the skies are always changing. Spring is my favorite time to photograph in the valley, when the wildflowers are blooming and the season’s dynamic weather patterns are producing the most spectacular cloudscapes. Waiting for the American Turn in a field south of Albany after a spring shower, stand perfectly still and listen to the land, soaking up the rain. Railroading has changed greatly
during its 150-year history in Oregon. Timber built much of the state’s economy, but intermodal, automotive, and bulk commodities like wheat and potash comprise much of today’s rail traffic. Yet forest products remain a substantial part of the state’s economy, and the Portland & Western hauls quite a lot of them. Spend some time along the P&W — to better understand both the long history between railroads and timber in the Pacific Northwest, as well as how that relationship continues today.
Scott Lothes is president and executive director of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (www.railphoto-art. org) in Madison, Wis., where he lives with his wife, Maureen Muldoon. Scott and Maureen spent three-and-a-half years in Oregon, living in Portland and Corvallis from 2008 to 2011. He is grateful to the many fine railroad photographers of the Pacific Northwest for their encouragement and assistance.
LEFT: “Shut Up and Love The Rain” graffiti on a former Southern Pacific wood chip car offers good advice for railroad photographers in western Oregon. BELOW: Just after sunrise on May 7, 2009, the eastbound Toledo Hauler crosses the Willamette River into Albany. At the time, the Hauler made most of its roundtrip in darkness, but with the current operating pattern, the eastbound run occurs almost entirely in daylight.
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