CORP in and around Coos Bay, Oregon Part 1

Sometime last year, I'd decided a trip to explore the Coos Bay Line was a must.  With a visit from Ray, a friend from Virginia (I think he's a closet railfan -- he even took Amtrak from Chicago to Oregon), I found a perfect excuse to head to the coast.  Plans were made to stay with another friend, Pete, who lives in North Bend.  The weather was promising rain and snow, but what the heck, one expects foul weather on the Oregon coast and we prepared accordingly.

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	Coming into Coos Bay from the east the first evidence of CORP is some rusty rail in Coquille.  The highway then follows the railroad along Isthmus Slough.  A combination of heavy rains and high tide produced this impression that CORP is a marine railroad.
	Soon enough we entered the City of Coos Bay and came upon the CORP yard.  The Coquille Switcher had already finished it's work for the day and was tied up.
	Exploring around the yard a little, we found this 6700 series ex-Southern Pacific economy baggage car.  It's one of many the SP placed around for storage of signal, maintenance and other equipment.
	Farther into the yard are a couple of speeded shed still sporting SP paint.
	Most noticeable along Highway 101 at the CORP Yard is the former Coos Bay Lumber 104 that is being overhauled by the Oregon Coast Historical Railway.  This 1922 Baldwin pulled log trains from around Powers and Fairview to the McCormick log dump on Isthmus Slough from 1923 to 1954.  Replaced by diesels, it was sold to Georgia-Pacific in 1956 and moved to Toledo, OR where it remained on standby duty until 1960.  GP donated the locomotive to the Coos County Historical Society which turned the 2-8-2 over to the Oregon Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1999.  In 2001 the 104 was moved to it's current location and restoration efforts commenced.
	Lots done, lots more to do.  Part of the injectors still in place; throttle, steam manifold, assorted piping, a ton of stay bolts around the firebox, patched of paint and rust ground off for ultrasound testing.  After a dozen years at Sumpter and a season at Yreka, I appreciate this stuff more and more.
	The cab has been neatly set off between the Baldwin and the museum/depot barely visible on the right.  CORP 3828 is lurking in the background. For further information on this worthwhile project, contact: Oregon Coast Historical Railway P. O. Box 4174 Coos Bay, OR  97420
	Looking north from Coos Bay towards North Bend is the famous street running track.  Now, all that's missing is a train!  Still, it was fun driving up the track
Continue with Part 2 The Swing Bridge	Continue the Coos Bay trip up to North Bend and Cordes with a look at the Swing Bridge, among other things.