Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 6, 1994 - THREE
sto p o n H e p p n e r W illo w C r e e k r u n m a r k s en d o f e r a fo r r a ilr o a d tr a in
On train l-r: Lloyd Leathers, operation manager, Charles Clayton, conductor and Gary Con
ley, engineer are greeted on their last trip to Heppner by a handful of people including John
Edmundson (holding flag) and Mayor Bob Jepsen
One hundred and six years o f
railroading rolled to a stop when
a Union Pacific Railroad train
made a final run on the Heppner
branch line Thursday. June 30.
Lloyd L e a th e rs, o p e ra tio n
manager for this branch line dur-
ing the past 41 years, accom-
panied engineer Gary Conley and
conductor Charles Clayton.
There were no brass bands to
greet engine number 2045 that for
the last time pulled two cars and
a caboose up the Willow Creek
track. Only a tew local residents
and railroad fans from Walla
Walla were on hand when this
train stopped at Kinzua Resources
Mill to pick up an empty flat car
that once carried lumber from the
mill to market.
Brakeman Bill Brilcs said that
it was inevitable that ' l l . P. aban-
don this branch line-due to the
steady decline o f rail shipments
from the area. However when the
Oregon Rail and Navigation
Company built this line in 1888
it becam e one lifeline for
marketing the area’s agricultural
products. Conley said he ws
board a steam engine that was us
ed to pick up livestock that were
loaded in cattle cars from the
Heppner stockyards, then located
at the west edge o f town.
Before that time, ranchers
drove cattle and sheep to the
stockyards at Arlington, where
they could be taken to the
Pharmacy &
Your Health
Boardman Pharmacy
& Hardware
202 1st. N. W. P.O. Box 170
Boardman. Oregon 97818
481-9474 481-7351
What to Do About
Medicine Side Effects
According to a recent review of
two publications in the journal
American Pharmacy, the most
common side effects of prescrip
tion medicines purchased in 1992
in the United States included skin
rash, nausea and vomiting, diar
rhea, dizziness, headache, and
stomach pain or cramps. Studies
have shown that side effects occur
most frequently with pain reliev
ers, antacids, arthritis medicines,
antibiotics, blood thinners, and
blood pressure medicines. The
companies that distribute medi
cines are required to list side ef
fects in the literature they enclose
with their medicines.
In addition to this information,
pharmacists have access to refer
ence books and computerized in
formation systems that keep them
up-to-date about side effects. Some
computer systems allow the phar
macist to print information that is
written for the patient or consumer.
One of the most important ways to
prevent side effects is to read this
and other material. This helps one
anticipate the possibility of a reac
tion.
It is important to know what to
do in case a reaction does occur
while you are taking a medicine.
For example, you should know
whether or not to discontinue the
medicine. Relieving side effects
may involve stopping the medi
cine or taking a different medicine.
After reading about side effects,
discuss them with your pharmacist
and your physician.
lapp* m m . >
Bill Briles and Lloyd Leathers fixing the hitch to connect the
last ever railroad car to leave Heppner.
W illam ette Valley
Thousands of pounds <
grain once had to be
o f this inland area b}
wagon. That same
horsepower was used
Willow Creek railr
pioneers like Betty
g re a t-g ra n d fa th e r
Eskelson, helped to
line,
i n November 1888
iron horse, that becam
Sagebrush Annie, cl
way upgrade alon
Creek, residents flock«
ner to celebrate the city
tion as a railhead. Thi
corporated county set
prosper as a shipping
wool and wheat.
Henry Heppner. foi
t p w n was named, ar
Morrow, the county’s
drove the last spike at
the Heppner line. ” Lo
roll and prosper,” sai
M ayor Henry Black
speech before about
p|e who had gathered
casion. accordine to tl
Photos by Joyce Hughes
Last stop, forever
developm ent o f south M o rro w
C ounty -an era that is now
BMCC GED center closed for summer
The GED testing center at Blue
Mountain Community College in
Pendleton will be closed for one
month beginning July 13.
The regular Wednesday/Friday
testing schedule will resume
Wednesday, Aug. 10. at 1 p.m.
For more information contact the
BMCC admissions and advising
office, 503 276-1260.
Crushed
3” base rock
Clean Fill Material
Can be picked up at pit or we will deliver. Pit 6V2 miles up from mouth
of Lower Rhea Creek, Brenner Canyon. Contact Roger Britt 676-5096
Gary Conley and brakeman Bill Briles getting ready to roll
off their corridors. This lessen
ed the number o f incidents when
the engine’s “ cow catcher” con
nected with wanton animals.
H o w e v er, th is m ode o f
transportation coped with other
h a z ard s. T he 1903 flood
destroyed the rail line in several
places below Heppner. The lines
were soon rebuilt. However the
Heppner station agent. J.M . Ker-
mans and his wife, were among
the flo o d ’s fatalities. They
became alarmed when flood
swept debris battered the railroad
station. They died while attemp
ting to reach higher ground. Had
they remained at the depot, which
remained intact, they would have
survived.
This rail line built with teams
o f horses and slip scrapers, cross
ed Willow Creek in several places
to avoid m ajor bluffs and
obstacles. Wooden bridges were
prone to flood damage. At
M organ, below lone, a bridge
collapsed in May 1917, which
killed engineer Sam Hanson and
section forman Frank Habelt in
the wreck.
A worn track was blamed for
the derailment o f six railroad cars
10 miles south o f lone in October
1918. This time there were no
casualties, but damage to train
cars was estimated at $6.000.
Also there was an estimated loss
of $5.(XX) in wood chips loaded
in cars.
O ver the years im proved
highways and large trucks have
taken business away from the
railroad. Semi-trucks now carry
large loads of wheat to elevators
near the Port of M orrow, where
grain is shipped by barge. In re
cent years, large trucks also carry
finished lumber and logs to dis
tant markets.
Willow Creek valley residents
will no longer be alerted by a
train’s whistle at crossings. Rails
and ties will be removed by a
c o n tra c to r. L eath ers said.
However older residents will
remember that it was the railroads
who helped in the settlement of
the West and contributed to the
ELECTRIC
INC
rxr m
fit.
1
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