Sumpter Valley Railway

The Sumpter Valley Railway, or Sumpter Valley Railroad, is a narrow gauge heritage railroad located in Baker County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Built on a right-of-way used by the original railway of the same name, it carries excursion trains on a roughly route between McEwen and Sumpter. The railroad has two steam locomotives and several other pieces of rolling stock. Passenger excursion trains operate on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through the end of September.

History

The railway was incorporated in 1890 by David Eccles. The narrow gauge railway's purpose was to haul logs to the Oregon Lumber Company sawmill in South Baker City. The sawmill and railroad remained separate corporations of the same owners for the life of the railroad. The builders of the railway also owned the Grande Ronde Lumber Company in Perry, Oregon, and the railway was financed by Mormons in Utah. The line was built over terrain originally considered as part of a railway from Denver, Colorado to the Pacific coast; but the Union Pacific Railroad opted for a different route to avoid bypassing growing communities which might provide an attractive opportunity for competition by the rapidly growing Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company.

Much of the original equipment came from the Utah & Northern Railway in Idaho and Montana. The Union Pacific owned the line and began converting it to standard gauge around 1887. Eccles owned a significant amount of Union Pacific stock, exerting enough influence to acquire the now-unneeded narrow gauge equipment. The first locomotive to arrive was a small numbered 285; the Sumpter Valley also purchased a number of the U&N's Brooks locomotives, along with a large number of boxcars and flatcars. In 1906, the railroad also acquired four locomotives from the Tonopah Railway (later the Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad).

By 1891, the line had reached McEwen, west of Baker City, and the railroad began offering passenger and freight service. To reach uncut forests further west, the company extended the line in stages. It reached Sumpter in 1896 and continued southwestward to Whitney, Tipton, Austin and Bates. By 1910, it arrived in Prairie City, a ranching and mining community along the John Day River in Grant County. The railroad continued to use wood fuel for their locomotives until converting to oil fuel in June, 1940. Diamond-shaped smokestacks were replaced by cabbage-shaped Rushton stacks after 1916.

Ten years later, the railway began losing business to automobiles and trucks, and in 1933 the of track between Prairie City and Bates were abandoned. Scheduled passenger service on the remaining line ended in 1937. Freight service remained, however, and in 1939 the railway purchased two Mallet locomotives from the Uintah Railway in Colorado. These engines were converted from coal to oil burners and given tenders from two locomotives. As traffic declined, the railway sold off the other, unneeded locomotives. In 1947, the railroad ceased all operations except for of track in the Oregon Lumber Company yard in South Baker City. This last section was abandoned and removed in 1961.

Heritage operation In 1971, a group of volunteers set out to rebuild the Sumpter Valley Railway. Locomotive No. 3, a 1915 Heisler steam locomotive, was restored to operation in 1976, and the new railway opened for business on July 4, 1976, over a track of less than . The Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration Inc. was created and 6 miles of track were reinstalled by hand over the next 15 years, to connect the McEwen, Oregon station with Sumpter, Oregon. SVR No. 19, a steam locomotive built in 1920, was restored to operating condition in 1996.Brown, Greg (July 1996). "Excursion, Rail Festival Mark Portland's Union Station Centennial". Pacific RailNews, p. 10. Sister locomotive 20 is also located at the railroad. In 2018, #720 was added to the railroad operating fleet after an overhaul. It previously was used by the Chiquita Banana company.

In 2007, the railway opened its reproduction of the original Sumpter Depot, within sight of the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area operated by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The railway operates a number of historic Sumpter Valley Railroad and adjoining narrow gauge logging railroad steam locomotives and equipment on the line every summer.

In Prairie City at the western end of the original line, the Sumpter Valley Depot Restoration Committee renovated the Sumpter Valley Railway Passenger Station in the 1970s. The City of Prairie City has used it to house the DeWitt Museum since 1984. Its collections include lanterns, lights, and other railway artifacts, and photographs of train wrecks and of life along the rail line.

Gallery

Locomotives NumberBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotes1st #1Lima Locomotive WorksShay1889244purchased from Sunny South Lumber Company in 18972nd #1Brooks Locomotive Works1881purchased from Utah & Northern Ry3rd #1Baldwin Locomotive Works190119211purchased from Tonopah Ry in 19101st #2Brooks Locomotive Works1881purchased from Utah & Northern Ry2nd #2Baldwin Locomotive Works190119210purchased from Tonopah Ry in 19101st #3Baldwin Locomotive Works18889519purchased from Tonopah Ry in 19102nd #3Heisler Locomotive WorksHeislerpurchased 19714Baldwin Locomotive Works190424689purchased from Tonopah Ry in 19075Brooks Locomotive Works1881530purchased from Utah & Northern Ry; sold to Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 19126Baldwin Locomotive Works18804982purchased from Utah & Northern Ry7Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad C-16 class8ex-Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad C-16 class; sold to Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 19129ex-Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad C-16 class; sold to Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 191210Baldwin Locomotive Works18805164ex-Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad C-16 class; sold to Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 191211Baldwin Locomotive Works18784429ex-Utah & Northern Ry; scrapped 194212Brooks Locomotive Works1881purchased from Utah & Northern Ry13Baldwin Locomotive Works1881purchased from Minnesota, Lyndale and Minnetonka Railroad1st #14Baldwin Locomotive Works18815932purchased from Connotton Valley Railway2nd #14Baldwin Locomotive Works190628806purchased from Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 191215Baldwin Locomotive Works189011075purchased from Eureka and Palisade Railroad in 191216Baldwin Locomotive Works191542073purchased new; sold to Peru in 194517Baldwin Locomotive Works191542074purchased new; sold to Peru in 194518Baldwin Locomotive Works191542075purchased new; sold to Peru in 194519American Locomotive Company192061981purchased new as #100; sold to White Pass and Yukon Route in 1941; returned in 197720American Locomotive Company192061980purchased new as #101; sold to White Pass and Yukon Route in 1941; returned in 197750Baldwin Locomotive Works191642865purchased new; sold to Peru in 1945250Baldwin Locomotive Works6/192659261purchased from Uintah Railway in 1940; sold to International Railways of Central America of Guatemala in 1947251Baldwin Locomotive Works4/192860470purchased from Uintah Railway in 1940; sold to International Railways of Central America of Guatemala in 1947285Grant Locomotive Works1870spurchased from Utah & Northern Ry; used for construction prior to beginning rail service

Sumpter Valley Railway

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