Medford mail tribune., July 24, 1955, Image 10

TEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday. July 24, 1955
Reporter Describes Ride on Doomed Rogue River Train, Portland to Ashlan
'Old Stop and Start'
Crawls Distance in
13 Hours During Hight
(Editor's note: On July 8. the Southern Pacific Railroad
announced that it would abandon its last two passenger
trains between Portland and Ashland the northbound and
southbound "Rogue River." In anticipation of the end of the
service, the Oregon Statesman at Salem assigned Reporter
and Columnist Conrad Prange to ride the train and write
of his experiences, and the Mail Tribune cooperated in the
;;nr the accomDanvina story was written.
Public Utilities Commissioner Charles Heltxel has announced
he is ordering the end of service be delayed pending a oublie
hearing).
Bv CONRAD PRANGE
Staff Writer. The Statesman
A 75-year-old bit of Oregon
railroad history will come to an
end next week when the South
ern Pacifies passenger-mail-ex-prcss
train, the "Rogue River'
makes its final run.
Listed on the timetable as
the "Rogue River," but labeled
by trainowncrs and its mfre
ouent passcnuers as ' Old Stop
pnd Start," the niht train has
been running through the Wil
lamette valley on its Portland-A-hland
run as a holdover from
Oiegon's earliest railroading
days.
Slow and pokey, the Rogue
being sidetracked into the dis
card because passenger totals
have dropped down to an aver
age of only about five a day and
because it is no longer needed,
the SP says.
Last Service Left
It is the last remaining pas
senger service tram operating
south from Eugene on the old
original Siskiyou mountains
route one of the most scenic in
the West.
Along the 340 mile route from
Portland to Ashland, the time
table lists more than 50 stops for
mail, baggage, express and a
number of other reasons and
on a clear night the Rogue hits
just about everyone.
After passenger train service
south of Eugene ends for towns
such as Roseburg, Grants Pass,
Medford and Ashland, mail and
txpress will go by truck. Freights
will continue to use the line
however serving the rich tim
ber and produce areas of south
ern Oregon.
Although the Rogue schedule
stops at Ashland the railroad
sruth from there to Dunsmuir is
maintained and is used by
freights. It is always available
as a substitute passenger route
if the Cascade line is ever block
ed SP officials said, and has
not infrequently been used for
this purpose.
13-Hour Trip
TUt ifin from Portland to
A lit ' f --
Ashland requires about 13 hours
And because much of it is at
night you have plenty of time to
catch up on the colorful history
of the railroad over which you
are travelling.
The Rogue is practically the
last remaining carryover from
the crowded passenger tram
era of many years ago when
Oregon was first connected with
California on a coast railroad.
Tho firct tracks were laid
from Portland to Salem in time
for the State Fair September,
1870. The line was pushed to
Eugene a year later. From there
stage coaches took over and it
was a five-day trip from Eugene
to Reddir.g.
By the end of 1872 the rail
road reached Roseburg and the
end of the financial rope for
Roaring Ben Holladay, a former
stage coach tycoon, who had
turned to railroading.
To Ashand in 1884
Undr Henry Villard the rails
were laid from Roseburg to Ash
land in 1884. Three years later
the road was connected with one
built north from California, and
the original Siskiyou line of the
Shasta route was officially open-
For many years the Siskiyou
route through the heart of West
ern Oregon was the SP's only
main line through the state.
Then in 1927 a new line, which
veered east from Eugene, climb
ed the top of the Cascade pla
teau and ran down through
Klamath Falls to rejoin the Sis
kiyou route near Dunsmuir,
Calif , was constructed.
This new route, called the
Cascade, was smoother, faster
and soon became the favorite.
Service Shrivels
And passenger service on the
old Siskiyou line has shriveled
and. some say, neglected to the
point where as you travel it now
tiirough southern Oregon you
are lucky to "have more than six
nr wven comrjanions.
If you're making the trip you
swing aboard at Portland in
7:30 twilight. If there are a
c'uzen passengers aboard, its
bout average. On a recent night
-ere were 12 pullman fares and
:i coach passengers (all out of
Portland), which was the biggest
load the train had carried for a
long time.
There were 12 crew members
aboard. And all of them, from
Conductor A. E. Frack and
Brakeman. D. D. Cola on down.
personified the "friendly" in the
Southern Pacific's firm friendly
service slogan. The passenger
equipment is not new, but crews
agree it's adequate for the run.
Of the Pullman fares ($20 one
way) eight were going to Mcd
ford, three to Grants Pass and
one to Myrtle Creek. These in
cluded a retired Iowa druggist
and his wife who deliberately
chose the Siskiyou route to view
the Western Oregon they had
been hearing about in the East.
All Along Line
Th? 21 coach passengers were
destined for towns all along the
line. Seven adults and two sleeDy
children were destined for Eu
gene. A woman and two small
daushters were to detrain at
Oakland (Oregon) and two wom
an and a man were headed for
Roseburg.
None listed themselves as
steady patrons of the Rogue
river. Mrs. James Morris of
Oakland felt her two girls would
"ride easier" on the train than
on the bus.
Bill and Martin Roberts were
vacationing tourists on their way
to San Francisco. They were on
this train because of its scenic
possibilities. They had cameras.
The 10-car train (six express
cars, railway post office car, club
and coach cars and Pullman)
started its stopping routine al
most as soon as it left Salem. A
passenger got off at Turner. The
Rogue pulled onto a siding at
Marion and waited for the north
bound Shasta to sweep by in a
streak of light.
Stops for Freights
Underway once more and at
Halsey. Engineer C. A. Briden
stine, a 42-year rail veteran,
leaned from his speeding diesel
cab and plucked a message off
the signal post. It told him to
pull over and give way to a
northbound freight an extra.
Altogether that night the Rogue
gave way to three freights.
"We can make up this lost
time," said Bridenstine, as the
90-par freieht roared bv. "But
a few minutes means a lot to that
freight."
At Harrisburg (11:10 p.m.)
Brakeman Cole helped load
aboard the express and baggage
car 30 ten-gallon cans of ice
cream mix from the Harrisburg
Creamerv. It was destined for
stops down the line.
Among the pile of express
taken aboard that night at var
ious points were included a con
signment of babv chicks from
Albany to Roseburg and a ship
ment of parakeets from Rose
burg to California.
Cars Dropped at Eugene
At Eugene (11:45 p.m.) three
baggage cars and several pass
engers were dropped. Only pass
enger to come aboard was a rail
road fireman going to Roseburg.
Passengers tried to catnap in the
darkened car as the long list of
stops, mostly for mail and some
express, began south of Eugene.
Longest gap listed between stops
is Grants Pass to Rogue River
(nine miles) and the shortest.
Myrtle Creek to Weaver, (1.1
miles).
During the run some 1.800
bags of mail were handled by
the nostal crews aboard.
Contributes to the number of
stons and slow-downs was the
"ice patrol." The Rogue picks up
ice. 50-pound blocks of it in bur
lap bags, at main points and then
delivers it to the manv track-
side shanties of section hands
and other railroad employees up
and down the line.
This stop-and-start nightmare
needled one passenger, a section
hand going to work down the
line, into remarking pointedly
that one railroad he knows of
gives away free apple juice to
ease passengers' boredome.
Genial Conductor FTack of
Portland, who was having a busy
night, paused to recall almost
wistfully the soft touch he had
when he was a brakeman on
trains which carried President
Truman and Candidate Dwight
Eisenhower through Oregon sev
eral years ago.
Sought-After Man
Frack. who is president of the
new railroad employees credit
union and secretary-treasurer of
the Brotherhood Local, was a
much sought-after man by crews
along the line. .
South from Eugene the road
bed was rougher and you were
lucky if your drink of water
didn't splash down your shirt
front.
At Rosebuxg (.4. a.m.) the train
TRAIN PULLS IN The "Rogue River," the
nightly passenger train from Portland to
Ashland, as it pulled into the Medford de
pot (50 minutes late) one day last week. The
train started out as a fairly long train, but
by the time it arrived here it was down to
three head-end cars for baggage, mail and
MAIL UNLOADED Conductor
checks his watch as mail and express is unloaded from the morn
ing train from Portland, soon to vanish if the Southern Pacific's
plans are carried through On the truck is Don Wendt. Jackson
ville, a railway clerk, and barely visible inside the car is Leonard
Schoessler, Portland, postal transportation clerk. (Brainerd
photo.)
Jlf " '""'"'"''''"'ill .,1k. jm
AFTER 12 HOURS Statesman Reporter Conrad Prange dis
mounts from the Rogue River with the help of Brakeman Al
Fisher, Eugene. Prange made the trip to describe it in the accomp
anying articles, which also appears in the Statesman. He found
the trip, slow, bumpy and start-and-stop, but said the crew lived
up to the "friendly" in the SP's slogan, "The Friendly Southern
Pacific." (Brainerd photo.)
picked up a new crew plus two
passengers, youths going to Dil
lard, 10 miles south. They paid
the new conductor, Wallace Cam
eron of Ashland, 30 cents each
for their fares.
The passenger load had
dwindled to a handful. As dawn
broke just out of Roseburg, the
train began to parallel the misty
Umpqua river and from here on
the view and scenery are well
worth the slow and jerky ride
through the beautiful Umpqua
River valley.
Along about Riddle (4:30 A.m.)
Conductor Cameron stretches his
long legs on a seat (it's an in
formal train) and tells you about
the old prospector who works a
claim hereabouts and regularly
Hags down the train . near
I
express, and three passenger cars, a Pullman,
chaircar and lounge. A passenger the morn
ing this photograph was taken was Reporter
Conrad Prange of the Oregon Statesman,
Salem, who describes the ride in the accomp
anying article. (Brainerd photo.)
dJh" f 1
Wallace Cameron, Ashland
Brandt. He rides the few miles
to Glendale for supplies.
New Assignment
Cameron recently moved his
family from Portland and bought
a home at Ashland. He is un
derstandably unhappy over the
announced suspension of the
train. Not -that he would be un
employed, but it would mean
taking another assignment.
As the Rouge Rogue moved
along through wooded hills sev
eral deer were sighted along
Cow Creek.
Out of Grants Pass (7:30 a.m.)
the train is about 15 minutes late
and now moves along the
stretches of the cool-looking,
broad Rogue river a fisher
man's paradise. The two Cali
fornia tourists are having a field
'Pony Express' Set
To Point Out Slow
Time of SP Train
Roseburg (U.R) A "Pony
Express" race to point up the
need for more adequate train
service for southwestern Oregon
will leave the starting line at the
south city limits of Eugene next
Saturday.
The race will cover the 75
miles to the north city limits of
Roseburg with from 75 to, 100
riders and horses in the relay.
Allen Knudtson, chairman of
the race committee, said the
present Southern Pacific Pass
enger train takes 3Va hours to
cover the 75 miles. Knudtson
believes the horses and riders
can equal or better that time.
Posses to Help
The Douglas County Mounted
Sheriff's Posse will participate
in the race and Knudtson will
enlist the support of other posses
in Lane, Josephine and Jackson
counties.
Southern Pacific recently an
nounced plans to abandon pass
enger train service in south
western Oregon and Knudtson
said object of the Pony Express
race was not to preserve the
present service but to promote
new and faster service between
Dunsmuir and Portland on day
light schedules.
Medford Attorney is
RR Lions Club Speaker
Rogue River Attorney Rod
ert Dames of Medford Lions
club spoke on legal aspects of
escrows and sales contracts at
a meeting of the Rogue River
Lions club last week. Dames is
zone chairman of the Lions
club.
Lions club president, Harold
Sander, presided at the meeting,
at which James Wooddy and
Grady West were iniated as
new members by Past President
Howard Miller.
Four out-of-town guests at
tended. They were Earl Bennett
of Portland; Paul Michener and
Fred Becker of Long Beach.
Calif., and Emmary Kettler of
Huntington Beach, Calif. Mich
ener has a 10-year perfect at
tendance at the Lakewood, Calif.
Lions club.
day with their camera sighted on
the lush Oregon terrain.
Gold Hill and running late.
The stops for mail and express
continue. Medford at about 9
a.m., about 50 minutes late. Sole
passengers from Medford to Ash
land are the two vacationers and
a woman and her three young
daughters going the 12 miles to
Ashland.
End of Line
The Rogue pulls into Ashland
at 9:40 a.m. only about 35
minute late the end of the
Mine' The bustle at the station
these days is considerably less.
I you think, than on that Dec. 17,
1887, when they whanged in the
last spike connecting Oregon
with the south.
A last word with Al Fisher of
Eugene, a rear brakeman with a
nostalgic sense of the historical.
"This is a beautiful line," says
Al, meaning the Rogue River
run. "It seems a shame to aban
don it."
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Crater lake Highway (62) Shady Cove
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. Fresh Trout (Caught Daily)
PeaTuring steak Dinner,
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Pony Rides Picnic Grounds
Dance Floor with Juke Box Music
Housekeeping Cabins by Day or Week Trailer Park
4b YLAflS AGO The picture above is of ihe
Jacksonville baseball team of 1910, taken 45
years ago this summer. It .is from the files of
Ike Dunford (third from left in the team), and
was sent to the Mail Tribune by M. Dale
Newton, a railroad enthusiast, because of the
fact that the youngster seated in front with the
brimmed hat is Donald Russell, president of the
Southern Pacific company, who was raised in
Jacksonville. The picture was accompanied by
a letter which is quoted in the accompanying
article. According to Dunford, the other young
ster, in the cap, is Roland Hines, who he thinks
Railroad Enthusiast Points
Out Western Pacific Plan;
Says 'Tsk, Tsk' to Russell
M. Dale Newton, Medford
printer and model railroad en
thusiast, last week sent the Mail
Tribune the above picture ac
companied by a letter discuss
ing the Southern Pacific's plan
to discontinue passenger service
between Medford and Ashland.
His letter follows:
The following story came to
me. rather deviously, from the
office of the president of the
Western Pacific railroad, and I
thought it paralleled, in part,
our situation with SP or rather,
perhaps, SP's situation:
Several years ago WP asked
the ICC for permission to aban
don their Salt Lake to Oakland
run (passenger). They were run
ning much the same sort of
equipment SP now is on the
Portland run; old and dirty; im
possible service; indifferent at
titudes on the part of employees,
The effort to discourage pass
enger travel was almost too ap
parent!
But ICC said "NO!" However
something had to be done, as
WP was losing $1,200 per month
on the run. So, on a last effort,
they purchased 50 passenger and
72 passenger Budd diesel rail
cars, new, fast and modern.
Instead of running them at t
night (another parallel) they I
made a daylight run of it. As i
New, Higher Rates
On Summer Home
Rentals Scheduled
New rates on summer home
lots under special use permits
in national forests will become
effective Jan. 1, 1956, Regional
Forester J. Herbert Stone, Port
land, has announced.
The new rates will affect
summer home lots at Fish lake.
Lake O' Woods, Dead Indian
Soda springs, Union Creek, and
Rocky Point on Klamath lake,
according to Jack Wood, super
visor of Rogue River national
forest. All the affected areas in
southern Oregon are in the for
est. Wood said the new rates have
not been received here, but will
be available at his office in the
post office building in the near
future.
Stone pointed out that fees
have not been increased on sum
mer home lots in recent years
and new rates are the result of
several years study over a per
iod of years.
The increase is to bring fees
up to correspond with rising
prices generally, Stone said.
For more desirable summer
home sites, increases above the
present minimum rate for par
ticular areas are made according
to region. Desirability factors
include accessibility, availabili
ty of electricity and water, scenic
values, and adjacent recreation
al opportunities.
now lives in Portland. Lined up for their pic
tures, left to 'right, to the best of Dunford's
recollection, are the following: 1. unidentified;
2. Warden "Preach" Ennis, son of a Jackson
ville minister, now deceased; 3. Dunford; 4.
unidentified; 5. Ephriam "Curly" Wilson; 6.
Charles Dunford Jr., Applegate, Ike Dunford's
brother; 7. Al Duncan; 8. Billy Mclntyre, re
cently deceased, Jacksonville; 9. unidentified;
10. "Heinie" Schmidt, Ashland, and 11. Lewis
Ulrich, team manager, Medford, recently deceased.
the story goes, they were run
ning FULL within 90 days and
had to buy two trailers.
Result: The total cost, of some
of a million dollars was re
paid before the year was out!!
Should Tell President
The above, if factual, should
be brought to the attention of
the SP president. Which brings
up the enclosed photo of the
Jacksonville baseball team of
some 40 years ago. Of the two
boy mascots, the one on the
right is the present president of
SP.
And him treating the Rogue
Valley like a step-child; him that
was born and raised here. Tsk!
Tsk!
I say that if the SP can't run
a railroad to the advantage of
the paying customers, they
should let someone take over
who can!
Most emphatically,
M. Dale Newton.
The 13th Annual
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July 29 & 30-7:30 p.m.
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July 31 - 2 p.m.
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
Dies in Tractor Mishap
Grants Pass (U.R) A 29-year-old
Sunny valley logger
was killed Friday when he was
run over by a tractor near Mack
lin Gulch, 25 miles north of here.
Dead was Clarence Krewson.
He was run over by a tractor
operated by Kenneth Brady,
who said he was driving down
a steep incline when the acci
dent happened.
Sheriff's deputies said they
were unable to determine how
Krewson, a choker setter, got in
the way of the tractor. They
were investigating the accident,
which occurred at about 12:30
p.m.
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