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The Holiday Express operated on the Oregon Pacific Railroad between
Oaks Park Station and the Ross Island Bridge in Southeast Portland. For
two weeks in December, people flocked to Oaks Park to see the steaming
SP 4449 depart on the hour, nine times a day from Friday through Sunday.
Countless of volunteers from various organizations showed up to lend a
hand -- There were so many volunteers, we didn't get a chance to
photograph every single one of them.
The SP 4449 operated on both weekends, unlike previous years where the
SP&S 700 volunteered to operate one weekend, and the 4449 the next.
The first few days of the event actually turned out nice, weather-wise.
Portland and the Northwest got hammered with a severe storm that
brought flooding to many towns, as well as affecting local railroads
severely, we were lucky to have no weather-related problems.
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The event took place just yards from where the 4449 was placed upon its
year 1958 retirement from the Southern Pacific. At the time, it was
thought that it would never run again -- If only they could time-travel
to 2007, and watch the 4449 steam by the "final resting spot" hourly,
which was laughable back then.
Many of the volunteers made up of participating organizations rotated
tasks, such as parking management, concessions, ticketing, on board car
hosts, hospitality, wood-working, loading and unloading, conducting,
working the locomotive, stringing the lights, slowing the "Tour De
Springwater" bicyclists, etc. There was never "nothing to do".
If you're interested in volunteering next year, we would love the help,
and it'd get you some free train rides! Contact the Oregon Rail
Heritage Foundation for more information.
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People came from all around the world to see 4449 run, even if it
wasn't any faster than 15 mph. If we were to go faster than that, it
would make the duration of the trip shorter, and more difficult to take
in all the sights of beautiful Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Willamette
River and Ross Island.
Weather turned to rain on the last three trips of the second weekend,
but that didn't stop people from coming down to ride the completely
sold-out runs! We appreciate your support, hope you all had a great
train ride, and that the kids were able to tell Santa what they would
like for the Holidays.
We hope to run again next year, this time perhaps while building a new
shop at ORHF's future home near the Union Pacific and Oregon Pacific
Railroad interchange.
Thank you for looking!
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Friends
of SP 4449
Inc. - P.O.Box
#42486 - Portland, OR 97242 *This
website is best viewed at 1024x768 or higher resolution*
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