Riding the rails on Southeast Portland’s Holiday Express

By David F. Ashton

The Bee, Dec 24, 2009

The Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700 locomotive steams up, ready to make its first nighttime excursion of the December 2009 season.

David F. Ashton / THE BEE

For two weekends every December — on these cold, still nights — one can still hear a mournful sound from a past era, when the mighty steam-powered locomotives roamed the nation’s rails.

“The first two weekends in December, we run the Holiday Express,” said Sellwood resident Ed Immel, Vice President of the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF), as we spoke at the Oaks Park Station. “This marks our fifth year. It goes from Oaks Park up to OMSI and back — about a 45-minute round trip. It’s a great family event; Santa Claus comes through the coaches to great the passengers, and gives out candy canes.”

Folks come for the ride, year after year, Immel explained, because of the view. “The ride, especially at night, is very dramatic with all the lights on the train — and the sight of the lights of the City in the distance.”

When we visited on December 4th, ORHF volunteers were pulling the heated, Holiday-decorated coaches with the massive and powerful Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700. The following weekend, they stoked up one of the world’s most famous steam locomotives, the Southern Pacific #4449.

These train rides are the organization’s only fundraiser, Immel pointed out. “We’re raising money to build a new home for Portland’s locomotives. Unlike many charitable contributions, our guests get a great experience for them and their family — while they are helping our cause.”

About 50 years ago, Immel said, the City of Portland promised to build a Transportation Museum to house its steam engines and street cars. It didn’t happen. The historic rolling stock was parked, for decades, on a siding next to Oaks Park — until Southern Pacific allowed the group to use their Brooklyn Yard Roundhouse.

“We’ve now acquired property down by OMSI,” Immel smiled. “It’s just west of where the new MLK Jr. viaduct is going in, on a 2½-acre site. It will be at the intersection where the new streetcar and the new Southeast MAX Light Rail line will come together. People will finally be able to go see the locomotives year ’round. We plan to have open houses, classes — the new roundhouse will be designed so people can stop by at any time.”

However, ORHF still needs to raise a total of about $3.2 million to complete the new roundhouse project, Immel added.

If all tickets for all rides this December were sold, an estimated 10,000 passengers would have taken the short-line journey. As of the first day of the 2009 run, Immel revealed that ticket sales had been brisk. “So far, advance sales have exceeded last year’s entire sales.”

As another train full of excited sightseers pulled out of the station, ORHF was another trip closer to finally having a permanent home for the City of Portland’s beloved locomotives.

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