| Portland & Western Railroad
With Lou Thelen and Toby Van Alvorst Part 4: The Eugene Yard |
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| Portland & Western Railroad
With Lou Thelen and Toby Van Alvorst Part 4: The Eugene Yard |
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As we continue down the main, it becomes apparent how much of Eugene Yard is no longer in service. The track to our immediate right is what remains of the Irving Siding (now known as the Irving Lead) and ends a few car lengths beyond the crossing. The second track over is the yard lead which connects the "high" and "low" departure yard tracks. Many of the "high" tracks (6 - 11) are out of service or used for storage. The track with cars on it was the high lead. The track furthest to the right that departs from the high lead just before the (probably bad order) box cars was called the pocket, the usual place to set out bad orders. Past it, other tracks are no longer connected to the yard lead. |
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As we near the end of what's left of the departure yard, we stay on the main past this turnout which would have taken us through the "puzzle", past East Tower (visible in the center of the picture) and towards the now empty bowl in the distance. |
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The track coming in from the right is the departure lead from the puzzle
and the departure yard. It joins the main at a place called the "Ice
Dock", a name dating back may years.
We continue for two more miles and stop at the designated crew change point, the G Spot (another historic name). We are met by a UP crew van which delivers us to our northbound power in the yard. |
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Power for the trip north will be this conventional cab SD-60. Another SD-60 and an SD-40-2 complete the three unit consist. |
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Outbound our train will have 119 cars which are located in two locations. Part of it's in the 50 Yard or old arrival yard and the rest is in the departure yard . After inspecting the power, we back through the puzzle to start assembling our train. |
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In the middle of the puzzle, we pass a three unit power set including this SP SD-40M rebuild. These locomotives are parked on a track known as the "rusty rail." In early 2001, the switches at both ends of the rusty rail were removed. |
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We tie onto the front half or our train and, with the help of the carmen, complete an air test. Soon we're underway again, through the puzzle (of course!) and back to the departure yard and the rest of our train. |
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The Eugene Yard mistress has determined that our train would be too long if we put both halves together we'd either be blocking much of the yard or grade crossings at Irving. With Amtrak 11 due in an hour and no siding between Eugene and Albany with sufficient capacity for a 119 car train, we sit and wait. |
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Finally, a headlight appears in the dusk and Amtrak breezes past on the main. In this picture, the lack of light has dictated a slow shutter speed creating the effect that 11 is moving faster than its allowed 60 mph . |
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The Return Trip: By the time we got both halves of our train assembled and the air test done, it was dark and no more pictures were possible. Once on the main, Lou had no trouble maintaining our 50 mph track speed as we cruised down the CTC main past one high green after another. In less than an hour we were back in Albany where the P&W switch crew helped us double our consist into the yard and relieved us of our power. Another day's run of the Willamette & Pacific's (err, Portland & Western's) Eugene Hauler was complete. |
Special thanks to Lou Thelen, Toby Van Altvorst and the Portland & Western Railroad
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