The wife & I spent the July 4th weekend along the Oregon Coast, including Sat. July 6th @ Nehalem Falls Park in Tillamook State Forest. Driving out Foss Rd. to the North & Hwy. 26, we crossed over the Salmonberry River where it flows into the Nehalem River @ RR Station Salmonberry. A few Questions :

1) When was the Foss Rd. bridge renovated, and why does it now sever the Right of Way ???

While the ROW is currently severed at the Foss Road Crossing of the Salmonberry River, the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad already has the engineering done to repair that section of the railroad. We anticipate having service to Enright (MP 811) and beyond to MP 810.5 by 2015. MP 810.5 is the eastern end of our lease. The bridge in the photo posted is MP 815.8.
There are several more damaged locations along the ROW. We have cleared a slide about 300 yards long at the CC crossing of Foss Road (Where the pavement ends) and several other small slides. Vegetation control has been employed over the last two years for all in service track.

2) Was the North side of Foss Rd. bridge undercut in the big flood ???

Yes.

3) Is this the only damage to POTB trackage ???

No, the damage is much more extensive as you travel east up the Salmonberry River Canyon. Nothing there is insurmountable, just time and money. Having our own equipment and volunteer labor helps a lot.

4) Has the POTB trackage been officially abandoned, STB - wise ???

No, OCSR leases 48 miles of POTB track between end of track at the Port of Tillamook to MP 810.5. Mr. Moore is accurate that the OCSR is a member of the Salmonberry Corridor Coalition that is looking at a rails and trails plan for the section of ROW we intend to use. The rest of the line is currently mothballed. The Portland & Western has been storing cars on the east end of the line near Banks but that does not seem to be happening currently.

I'm sure some of these questions have been answered before on AP; thanks for repeating them here.

Hope this was helpful.
Brandon Thompson
OCSR volunteer