The crane is in a scrap yard. I talked to the owner several years ago about when it was first “unearthed” because the city required him to cut back this black berry bushes and it became more visible. The owner told me he purchased it in the late 1970s as I recall, not to cut up, but to fill up his scrap yard and make it seem more full. Its sitting on a spur track that ran into the scrap yard. I think all of that track is now isolated from the main system out there. I seem to recall that it was last shopped right before it was sold to the scrap dealer, so it "was" in good shape when he first obtained it.

But he said that he wanted something like $30K for it, if I remember correctly. I could be wrong on that, but whatever it was, it was a lot more than it was worth at the time. Ya, copper thieves stole everything they could off it, as soon as the blackberry bushes were cut back.

I don’t know what its fate it, but the fact is, nobody has any room to store anything up here, nor money to fix it up. So the best case scenario is that it gets covered by the black berries and forgotten for another 35 years. At least then it will survive. Otherwise, it will eventually be cut up.

Brian McCamish
Oregon Pacific Railroad