The History of Oregon & Northwestern Railroad Explored

Oct. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest history pictorial added to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of Rail series is Oregon & Northwestern Railroad by Jeff Moore and Wayne I. Monger. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images of the railroad.

In 1922, the US Forest Service offered one of the largest timber sales in the agency’s history, encompassing 890 million board feet of mostly Ponderosa pine timber in the mountains north of Burns, Ore. Among other requirements, the sale terms required the successful bidder to build and operate 80 miles of common carrier railroad through some of the most remote and undeveloped country in the state.

The Fred Herrick Lumber Company and its Malheur Railroad initially won the bidding, only to lose it when a crash in the lumber market forced the company into insolvency. The Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicago picked up the pieces, and from 1929 until 1984, its subsidiary Oregon & Northwestern Railroad made a living hauling logs, lumber and occasional livestock between Burns and Seneca, Ore. This book shares the story of Oregon & Northwestern Railroad by sharing historic images of the railroad with readers.

Highlights of Oregon & Northwestern Railroad include:

•Rarely seen before photographs featured in the book have been compiled from museums, private collections and the author’s own archives.
•Images shown cover the entire span of the railroad operations from 1912 to present day and feature railroading in Harney, Malheur and Grant counties.
•Discusses the Bear Valley Timber Sale, one of the largest timber sales the U.S. Forest Service ever offered.
•Highlights how the rising waters of Malheur and Harney lakes ended railroad operation in Burns and how the line was rebuilt and service briefly restored in the early 1990s.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com/.