 |
Re: Here's the text of the story
Author: Chuck in Oregon
Date: 09-24-2011 - 07:02
OK, the Observer website is a little screwy. Here's the text of the story as I filed it:
An ambitious expansion of railroad service including a steam-powered passenger train appears to be in the works for the Wallowa Union Railroad.
Directors of Wallowa Union Railroad Authority will begin negotiating in October for Standard Railroad Corp. to maintain and operate the publicly owned railroad, according to Mark Davidson, a director who manages the railroad.
The railroad’s board has appointed three members to hammer out a contract with Court Hammond, president and CEO of Standard, parent of several shortline railroads and railcar storage facilities. Hammond did not respond to repeated phone messages for comment.
WURA’s negotiators are its co-chairman, Mike Hayward, a Wallowa County commissioner; Davidson, also a Union County commissioner; and director Steve Adams of Enterprise.
Standard was one of two companies responding to WURA’s August request for proposals to operate passenger and freight service and maintain the 63-mile rail line between Elgin and Joseph, saved from abandonment in 2002 by Union and Wallowa counties.
Standard’s proposal envisions steam excursions between Elgin and Wallowa, a dinner train between Joseph and Wallowa, fishing and rafting trains using the railroad’s self-propelled Budd rail diesel cars and other tourist-oriented trains.
Depots would be developed in Minam, Wallowa and Joseph, according to the proposal. Wallowa Union already plans to build a station at its railyard in Elgin using a $1 million state grant.
A new Standard subsidiary, Sierra Nevada and Pacific Railroad, would endeavor to increase freight traffic, scarce in recent years, the proposal says. Eventually, according to the proposal, WURA should acquire the freight-rich Union Pacific tracks from La Grande to Elgin, now leased by Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad.
The steam trains would be pulled by a 1915-era steam engine owned by another Standard subsidiary, near-dormant Yreka Western Railroad in Shasta County, Calif. The railroad’s No. 19, with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in 1915 and refurbished in 2006, according to the railroad’s website.
The other proposal, from Two Rivers Railway, a partnership of railroaders from Baker City, didn’t include a steam train. Two Rivers had approached WURA a year-and-a-half ago with a management proposal, but it was abandoned over property tax issues and other concerns.
The board voted on Sept. 14 to go with Standard.
“We’re excited about it,” Davidson said. “If we can come to a successful conclusion in the negotiations, it will start a new chapter for us. It would be an alternative that gives us access to an entirely different market.”
Since 2004, WURA has operated the diesel-powered Eagle Cap Excursion Train on the western portion of the line, but has struggled to have the service break even financially.
The railroad’s Eagle Cap passenger cars, including one recently restored by volunteers from Friends of the Joseph Branch, would be used on the steam excursions, according to the proposal. Standard also plans to develop a working relationship with the Friends organization, which was instrumental in saving the rail line from abandonment.
Yreka Western had operated a tourist train called the Blue Goose using the steam engine, but suspended the service in 2008 due to a drop in tourism attributed to the recession. Yreka Western’s freight service also has been curtailed by severely reduced traffic on the adjoining Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, the Yreka Western website reports.
An ambitious expansion of railroad service including a steam-powered passenger train appears to be in the works for the Wallowa Union Railroad.
Directors of Wallowa Union Railroad Authority will begin negotiating in October for Standard Railroad Corp. to maintain and operate the publicly owned railroad, according to Mark Davidson, a director who manages the railroad.
The railroad’s board has appointed three members to hammer out a contract with Court Hammond, president and CEO of Standard, parent of several shortline railroads and railcar storage facilities. Hammond did not respond to repeated phone messages for comment.
WURA’s negotiators are its co-chairman, Mike Hayward, a Wallowa County commissioner; Davidson, also a Union County commissioner; and director Steve Adams of Enterprise.
Standard was one of two companies responding to WURA’s August request for proposals to operate passenger and freight service and maintain the 63-mile rail line between Elgin and Joseph, saved from abandonment in 2002 by Union and Wallowa counties.
Standard’s proposal envisions steam excursions between Elgin and Wallowa, a dinner train between Joseph and Wallowa, fishing and rafting trains using the railroad’s self-propelled Budd rail diesel cars and other tourist-oriented trains.
Depots would be developed in Minam, Wallowa and Joseph, according to the proposal. Wallowa Union already plans to build a station at its railyard in Elgin using a $1 million state grant.
A new Standard subsidiary, Sierra Nevada and Pacific Railroad, would endeavor to increase freight traffic, scarce in recent years, the proposal says. Eventually, according to the proposal, WURA should acquire the freight-rich Union Pacific tracks from La Grande to Elgin, now leased by Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad.
The steam trains would be pulled by a 1915-era steam engine owned by another Standard subsidiary, near-dormant Yreka Western Railroad in Shasta County, Calif. The railroad’s No. 19, with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in 1915 and refurbished in 2006, according to the railroad’s website.
The other proposal, from Two Rivers Railway, a partnership of railroaders from Baker City, didn’t include a steam train. Two Rivers had approached WURA a year-and-a-half ago with a management proposal, but it was abandoned over property tax issues and other concerns.
The board voted on Sept. 14 to go with Standard.
“We’re excited about it,” Davidson said. “If we can come to a successful conclusion in the negotiations, it will start a new chapter for us. It would be an alternative that gives us access to an entirely different market.”
Since 2004, WURA has operated the diesel-powered Eagle Cap Excursion Train on the western portion of the line, but has struggled to have the service break even financially.
The railroad’s Eagle Cap passenger cars, including one recently restored by volunteers from Friends of the Joseph Branch, would be used on the steam excursions, according to the proposal. Standard also plans to develop a working relationship with the Friends organization, which was instrumental in saving the rail line from abandonment.
Yreka Western had operated a tourist train called the Blue Goose using the steam engine, but suspended the service in 2008 due to a drop in tourism attributed to the recession. Yreka Western’s freight service also has been curtailed by severely reduced traffic on the adjoining Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, the Yreka Western website reports.
