Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad

On Thursday July 7, 2005 conventioneers attended a trip on the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad. Riders departed from Banks, Oregon for a ride to Enright. The Tillamook Branch was originally known as the Pacific Railway & Navigation Company and was inaugurated on November 11, 1911. Both passenger and freight service was provided on a daily basis. In 1915 the line was sold to the Pacific Railway & Navigation Company and thus became Southern Pacific property. The Tillamook line is now owned by the State of Oregon which contracts the operation to the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad.

The current railroad operation features both passenger and freight service. The freight business consists of nearly 4,000 carloads of freight per year. Passenger service is run periodically with diesel power. The convention trip was powered by three SD9 diesel locomotives. Two remain in their as-acquired BN paint scheme and the other was in an attractive Port of Tillamook Bay paint scheme.

Two runby's were performed at Enright before the train returned to Banks. The first was with SD9 No. 4406 in the lead.

Passengers were treated to some spectacular scenery (especially if viewed from the open car) featuring several towering trestles and over a half dozen tunnels. Riders were taken over a 75-foot high, 290-foot long trestle bridge over the west fork of the Dairy Creek. This was one of several dramatic views of the pacific northwest forests. Riders were also treated to a stretch of track on a 2% track giving those in the open car quite a show listening to three SD9s crawl uphill.

The second runby performed at Enright featured the two ex-BN SD9s in the lead. After this runby SD9 No. 4406 was cut off the train and moved into the lead position for the return run to Banks.