Port of Tillamook Bay hopes to take more people, more places, more times
The February, 1998 issue
of Lower Columbia BUSINESS profiled the history of the Tillamook
Bay Railroad. Briefly, the Port acquired the railroad in 1990
after leasing the approximately 98-mile system since 1987. The
line was originally established in 1911, owned and operated by
Pacific Rail and Navigation. That outfit sold the railroad to
Southern Pacific, which ran the lines until selling to the Port
which purchased it using lottery funds.
The primary users of the tracks today are freight cars, with
"over 3,000 freight cars interchanged over the hill versus
only 600 in 1990," said PoTB general manager, Jack Crider.
"The Port owns eight locomotives and has two on lease, plus,
we have flat cars, air dumps, hoppers, box cars, cabooses...everything
except passenger cars." Up until now, the Port has leased
passenger cars, when available, to host excursion or specialty
event passenger runs on the line. The problem with that was not
only monetary - since "a huge portion of our revenues from
the line were going toward leasing," but also logistical,
since the cars were not always available for lease when the Port
wanted or needed them. "People would call into the Chamber
office wanting to know when the next excursion train would be
running, and we couldn't always tell them. That makes it difficult
to plan, and they may not always call back," said Crider.
For the last six to seven years the Port commissioners have been
discussing the issue of purchasing passenger rail cars. On Monday,
March 20, commissioners Jack Madison, Ken Bell, Loten Hooley,
Jerry Dove and Art Ridel voted to purchase not only one, but two
passenger rail cars.
The decision to purchase was researched in a number of ways, including
the choice between traditional rail parlor cars, costing approximately
$20,000 each and requiring a locomotive to push or pull them and
burning twice the fuel, or purchasing Rail Diesel Cars that have
their own form of propulsion and may be operated by a single person,
rather than a team. The cost of the two RDCs is $160,000.
The
commissioners opted to purchase the RDCs, one of which will need
extensive remodeling. The higher cost should be offset, according
to Crider, by the savings in operating costs, and the Port estimates
a revenue of $100,000 per year for the excursion operation, with
a payoff in eight years. The groundwork and research for the decision
came in part from past operation of the leased car runs, which
generated 94 runs in its heyday. It is hoped the RDCs will operate
in partnership with the Tillamook Transit District and the PoTB
"great group of volunteer conductors and hostesses,"
said Jack. LCB
Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad
Contact: Jack Crider, general mgr.
Address: 4000 Blimp Boulevard
Tillamook, Oregon 97141
Telephone: 503/842-2413
RR Division: 503/842-2477
Fax: 503/842-3680
E-mail: jcrider@potb.org
Website: www.potb.org
Hours: 9a - 5p M - F
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