idea, which was dubbed Santiam Pass light, which was only
single deck. My concept won, and then we went ahead.”
MRH:
“Did you mention something about the scale?”
Rick:
(laughs) “No, but why not? We always wanted to do HO,
so we stayed with HO. That was the most popular scale with all
the members, so we went with it.”
MRH:
“Rick, how did you pick which era? It looks like you’re in
the mid- to late-70s here?”
Rick:
“1979, and the membership picked the era. We had the
40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s and we just voted on it. The mem-
bership narrowed it down to the 50s and the 70s – the 70s won
out. Originally was going to be 1975, but then we thought how
about making it at the end of the decade, because that would
add center beams and covered auto racks as well. So we ended
up in September 1979.”
MRH:
“You had in that general time the Burlington Northern,
the Southern Pacific, the Union Pacific, even the Milwaukee
Road if you go a little further north. If you go farther back,
you’ve got the SP&S in this area. Were any of those railroads a
particular influence?”
Rick:
“Not really. We connect with the SP in Albany, and the
Burlington Northern at Albany, which are staging, and the
Oregon Trunk in Bend, which is also staging. And we change
history a little bit and say that the Milwaukee Road actually
crossed over into Oregon and came into Bend and had a con-
nection with the Milwaukee Road.”
MRH:
“I’ve noticed you run a pretty eclectic mix of motive
power here.”
Columbia Cascade and Western - 6
7: Lebanon yard
originates local
trains for the
Sweet Home
and Woodburn
branches, and
builds local trains
serving custom-
ers in Tallman
and the Irvinville-
Lebanon area.
Rick:
“Yes, the railroad has picked up some orphans from
other railroads – that’s basically what the concept is. We do
have some current power from that time, which is running our
hotshot trains. The current power has a little different paint
scheme – it’s red, black, and white. Whereas the older units
have the blue, gray, and white scheme on them.”
MRH:
“So you’ve got your own transition going on?”
Rick:
“Yes, we are kind of sort of like the SP&S … you never
know what color is what.”
MRH:
“Okay, David, construction? You’re kind of doing it in
multiple phases here?”
7
MRH-Feb 2013
