Oregon, Pacific and Eastern

[tg626]

Just thought I'd share, if you don't know the route here are some links to quick reading about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon,_P ... rn_Railway
http://www.brian894x4.com/OPandErailroad.html

While Emperor of the North Pole does a great job of documenting the Cottage Grove yard and other points on the line, I've been using the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps to turn the clock back a bit earlier. This is my 1st pass scenicing the yard, and I elected to include the saw mill that was there in the early part of the 20th century, but was gone by the time the film was made in the 1970s.



Looking sound, S. 10th Street to the left, Southern Pacific's Siskiyou line to the right.



Looking north from the southeast corner, this is pretty freelanced.



Looking north at the log pond and saw mill.

Overall the plan is to go "semi-freelanced" with the terrain and route following the prototype, but the details of places like the yard and the towns being less restricted by historical fact.

As it stands this will be reliant on assets from GreatNortherner as well as assets that come with the RWA Lakeside route - encouraging donations!

[jpetersjr]

Also, you will also be able to use the assets from the Riverland Lines route, such as the custom buildings I built for it. I'd be more then happy to send them over your way.

[tg626]

I'd be glad to have a look. Finding a variety of those older buildings isn't easy, tho RWA and RCAP do help

[BoostedFridge]

Looking great! I love the look so far!

If you need or want any reference info on the route or area, I have a bunch of older books that have some info or detail on that area.

[MadMike1024]

The Goose! One of the original Goose steam locos is powering the Virginia and Truckee train in Virginia City, NV. I took the family to ride the Goose in the late 80s. It ceased operation a few years later.

[tg626]

I know 19 went back to Yreka (how ever you spell it), and then got "grounded" by financial issues, did she move on?


Meanwhile: Looking south down the SP line

[MadMike1024]

I know 19 went back to Yreka (how ever you spell it), and then got "grounded" by financial issues, did she move on?

The OC&E was the Oregon, California & Eastern, which ran east from Klamath Falls to Bly, Oregon. The OC&E started out as an independent, then came under control of the SP and GN, and then was sold again to Weyerhaeuser in 1975. The OC&E closed in 1990 and was scrapped around 1993.

The OP&E was the Oregon Pacific & Eastern, which ran from Cottage Grove to Culp Creek. This was the road that Emporer of the North was filmed on. The filming used the two active steam locomotives that were on the OP&E at the time, 2-8-2 #19 and 2-8-0 #5. The #19 was built in 1915 for an Arkansas lumber company, and it spent some time working for United Mining & Smelting in Mexico before coming to the McCloud River in 1924. The #19 went to the Yreka Western in 1953 after the McCloud dieselized, and worked there off and on until it was transferred to the OP&E in 1970. Ownership of the locomotive remained with the YW, and it was leased to the OP&E. Kyle Railways at the time owned the YW outright, but only held a 51% stake in the OP&E...the other 49% belonged to Bohemia Corp, which owned the sawmill complex at Culp Creek that provided most of the OP&E's freight traffic. The other locomotive used in the movie was 2-8-0 #5, which came to the OP&E from the Magma Arizona. The #5 did have three different numbers painted on it for the filming, one each on the front and both sides.

As noted, the #19 is back in Yreka and is currently undergoing repairs to bring it into compliance with the new FRA boiler regulations. The work has been slowed down due to the financial crisis on the little road caused by the fire and collapse of Tunnel 13 on the connecting Central Oregon & Pacific, which eliminated most of the railroad's freight business. The #5 was sold in 1978 to the Moody Foundation along with a lot of other historical and surplus equipment for a railroad museum in Galveston, Texas. It is still there today.

Kyle sold his interest in the OP&E to Bohemia around 1988, and Bohemia was not interested in keeping the passenger operations going. The railroad continued operations until Bohemia closed the Culp Creek sawmill in September 1990. The OP&E struggled on for another couple years, with it's mainline used to store freight cars. As late as early spring 1995 the OP&E was still operating a mile or so of track within Cottage Grove itself to serve a small sawmill. All operations ceased within a short time later, and the railroad was scrapped, with the right-of-way turned into a linear state park.

JDLX
Elko, NV

It may be another loco that I was thinking of... I don't know if the YW finally got 19 repaired, there are pics of it in operation.

[tg626]

I love Emperor of the North Pole, it is the inspiration for the route. I doubt many would have the stomach for such a film today, but I love it.

Worth noting, the scenes filmed on and around the huge trestle were the only scenes not filmed on the op&e, but I plan on slipping it in somewhere along the line, as well as adding back the south branch that spilt off a Walden that was abandoned back in the 1920s.

[McCRRR19]

I know 19 went back to Yreka (how ever you spell it), and then got "grounded" by financial issues, did she move on?

The OC&E was the Oregon, California & Eastern, which ran east from Klamath Falls to Bly, Oregon. The OC&E started out as an independent, then came under control of the SP and GN, and then was sold again to Weyerhaeuser in 1975. The OC&E closed in 1990 and was scrapped around 1993.

The OP&E was the Oregon Pacific & Eastern, which ran from Cottage Grove to Culp Creek. This was the road that Emporer of the North was filmed on. The filming used the two active steam locomotives that were on the OP&E at the time, 2-8-2 #19 and 2-8-0 #5. The #19 was built in 1915 for an Arkansas lumber company, and it spent some time working for United Mining & Smelting in Mexico before coming to the McCloud River in 1924. The #19 went to the Yreka Western in 1953 after the McCloud dieselized, and worked there off and on until it was transferred to the OP&E in 1970. Ownership of the locomotive remained with the YW, and it was leased to the OP&E. Kyle Railways at the time owned the YW outright, but only held a 51% stake in the OP&E...the other 49% belonged to Bohemia Corp, which owned the sawmill complex at Culp Creek that provided most of the OP&E's freight traffic. The other locomotive used in the movie was 2-8-0 #5, which came to the OP&E from the Magma Arizona. The #5 did have three different numbers painted on it for the filming, one each on the front and both sides.

As noted, the #19 is back in Yreka and is currently undergoing repairs to bring it into compliance with the new FRA boiler regulations. The work has been slowed down due to the financial crisis on the little road caused by the fire and collapse of Tunnel 13 on the connecting Central Oregon & Pacific, which eliminated most of the railroad's freight business. The #5 was sold in 1978 to the Moody Foundation along with a lot of other historical and surplus equipment for a railroad museum in Galveston, Texas. It is still there today.

Kyle sold his interest in the OP&E to Bohemia around 1988, and Bohemia was not interested in keeping the passenger operations going. The railroad continued operations until Bohemia closed the Culp Creek sawmill in September 1990. The OP&E struggled on for another couple years, with it's mainline used to store freight cars. As late as early spring 1995 the OP&E was still operating a mile or so of track within Cottage Grove itself to serve a small sawmill. All operations ceased within a short time later, and the railroad was scrapped, with the right-of-way turned into a linear state park.

JDLX
Elko, NV

It may be another loco that I was thinking of... I don't know if the YW finally got 19 repaired, there are pics of it in operation.

The info you have here on the 19 is from around 2006 when. The 19 operated on the Yreka Western from 1989 until around 2002-2003 when it went down for it's FRA mandated boiler work. After the Siskiyou Line was re-opened in 2006 the boiler work on the 19 was completed and she last ran in November 2008. The Yreka Western has been in financial hardship since 2008 after the Central Oregon & Pacific closed the Siskiyou line due to the economy and decline in lumber traffic. Since then the 19 has been entangled in liens. The 19 is also currently in need of a some extra boiler work right now, mainly a couple patches in the inside corners of the mud ring.

Tim Stricker
Gillette, WY