From the Wallowa County Chieftain newspaper:

And so ends our local railroad’s first journey into expanded service through outside help. Eleven months after signing Court Hammond’s Sierra Nevada & Pacific Railroad to operate the Wallowa-Union line, the line’s board is terminating that contract. The move should surprise no one who has observed how little of what was originally pitched to local decision-makers ever came to fruition.

Wallowa and Union counties sure could have done without the buildup of expectations – the growing excitement over plans for more train runs, more experienced train management, and more train equipment, including, of course, the deal’s centerpiece, the 1915 Baldwin steam locomotive that may or may not be legally promotable by its current name, The Blue Goose, were it to ever cross from California into Oregon.

Now it looks like we’ll never know the answer to that hypothetical challenge raised by a man who claims to hold exclusive Oregon rights to the name. Too bad.

There’s much else as well that we may never have the opportunity to learn. How many fish trains and rafting trains will local demand truly support? Which excursion themes will noticeably beef-up local tourism the most, especially when coupled with romantic, classic steam power?

The dream was pleasant while it lasted. Hammond and his assistant Sean Angel sure did talk a good game when they met dozens of enthusiastic members of the public in Enterprise back in March. But then came spring with zero fish trains instead of the 48 originally planned, ensued by zero rafting trains, a smattering of July activity highlighted by a pair of Enterprise-Joseph runs, and thereafter a prolonged silence along the tracks that was almost deafening.

To our local railroad board’s credit, its members aren’t loudly denouncing Hammond and SNAP, whose performance shortcomings apparently had much more to do with a shortage of funds than with any lack of ambition. In the end, however, WURA, though itself debt-free, is hardly in a position to invest much in an operator whose financial struggles are apparent. Hence, today’s parting of the ways.

According to Wallowa County Commissioner Mike Hayward, a WURA board member, service of some kind will resume along the local line – if not during 2013, then probably the next year. Whenever it happens, think of it as the beginning of our recovery from 2012’s no-show.