Jeff Moore Wrote:
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> . . .after the UP-SP merger, the line simply did not
> make a whole lot of sense in the post-merger railroad
> world. Too slow, too far to get to anything, and quite
> honestly, I don't exactly see the Modoc Line as one that
> would really fit into the way business and traffic
> patterns are now moving.

Depending on how congested the UP's OSL line via Pendleton and La Grande becomes, routing traffic via the Modoc might have made a lot of sense. I wonder if any fuel studies were ever done on, say, freights running from Portland, OR to Green River, WY, comparing an Oregon Truck - Modoc Line - Overland Route routing to the OWR&N - OSL route via Pendleton - La Grande - Pocatello. The Modoc routing might have been more fuel efficient. There are some grades, but nothing that matches the Blue Mountains. True, it no doubt would have been slower, but low priority, non-time-sensitive stuff could have gone that way. As more capital improvements would have been invested in the line, running times would have improved.

Too late now. Once it's ripped up, it's pretty much gone for good.