Four Eight Four Wrote:
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> It would have been very disappointing if the line
> north of Bend had closed because then the 4449 and
> likely the Gordo "ex UP baggage crew car" would
> have remained in Bend and the rest of the
> excursion train would have been Amtrak and
> possibly a BNSF or UP deisel pulled trip back to
> Portland. UP nor any other railroad would want an
> unscheduled steam excursion thrown onto their
> mainline on a few hours notice. Worst case
> passengers would have been bussed back to
> Portland. 4449 would have had to deadhead back to
> Portland once the line reopened.

Not to mention the fact that they would have had to work with BNSF to reschedule a time to make this deadhead move among with other freight traffic that would have been delayed due to the shut down. And once finally back to Portland figure out the move back to the museum with both the Union Pacific and Oregon Pacific Railroads.