Disappearing RR Blues: Willamina & Grande Ronde RR Traditional Cache
subwaymark: I'm archiving this cache for now. It will return maybe in a different location.
Disappearing RR Blues: Willamina & Grande Ronde RR
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is the fifth in the Disappearing Railroad series highlighting former Oregon railroad right-of-ways or structures in NW Oregon stretching from Hillsboro to Eugene. This one is at Valley Junction
The Willamina & Grande Ronde Railroad (or railway), was built sometime around 1920 to connect the named towns to lumber mills. It connected with Willamina Branch of the Southern Pacific. It was owned by Spaulding-Miami Lumber Company, among others. Over the years it has changed hands
In the 1980's the Oregon PUC condemned the line for bad trackwork. Through grants, the then owner, Roots Brothers, were able to restore the line between Willamina and the lumber mill at Fort Hill. In 1985, the line west of Fort Hill to Grande Ronde was abandoned. All that is left today are parts of the right-of-way and the station & engine house at Grande Ronde.
The rest of the line came up again for adandonment in 2004. By this time Hampton industries, owner of the Fort Hill mill decided to close the mill. Happily today (2008), the mill is active and receiving railcars. A look of the trackage between the mill and Willamina shows the tracks have been upgraded.
There is even talk of extending the track back towards Grande Ronde to serve the popular Casino with passenger trains from Portland. But don't hold your breath...
The cache is a small lock and lock located where the railroad at one time crossed Hwy 22 near Valley Junction. The gravel road here is the right-of-way, and if you walk a few steps north of the cache along Hwy 22 and look west you will see the embankment the rails were on.
Another historic thing to do nearby is Fort Yamhill, now a State Park, it is just a little bit further north/west along Highway 22. The fort is still there, just undergound, being unearthed by archeologists. Have fun!
Congrats to GlenMart for FTF!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
rreg lo jby
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures