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97-595: The initial owners of the company were Lewis Alfred Loomis, Jacob Kamm , I.W. Case, H.S. Gile, and B. A. Seaborg . L.A. Loomis was a pioneer on the Long Beach Peninsula . He had formed the Ilwaco Wharf Company in July, 1874. In addition to Loomis, incorporators of the Ilwaco Wharf Company included Robert Carruthers, George Johnson, Abraham Wing, and Captain J.H.D. Gray. They sold shares and raised $ 2,500 to build

194-622: A stub switch . The railroad had a three-stall roundhouse , water tank, and a gallows turntable at Nahcotta. Businesses in Nahcotta included the Bayview (formerly the Morrison) Hotel, built in 1889, and the Nahcotta Hotel, and Morehead's general store. Most of Nahcotta's business district burned down on January 27, 1915, and was never rebuilt, a total insurance loss of $ 32,500. The railroad ran

291-911: A "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Portland. He also owned valuable property on Market Street in San Francisco . At the time of his death, the Vancouver Transportation Company operated two ships: the Lurline and Undine on routes between Portland and Astoria . In 1929, E.W. Wright, a marine historian, wrote that Kamm was one of "two outstanding figures whose leadership in Columbia river steamboating will never be disputed". Cross-tie A railroad tie , crosstie ( American English ), railway tie ( Canadian English ) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English )

388-609: A common carrier's route required the consent of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Union Pacific sought this consent, and following a hearing, on July 12, 1930, the railroad obtained permission to abandon from the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission . Asay summed up the terrible financial condition of the railroad at this time: There

485-457: A cost of $ 5,000 per mile. This meant that it would take about $ 100,000 to build the railroad. The company's founders raised the money through sale of stock, which took several years to reach a level of capital where construction could begin. The company could not locate a general contractor who would build the railroad for less than the company's total capitalization of $ 100,000, so the company decided to act as its own general contractor, and hire

582-544: A further three-year order in 2015, but then Axion filed for bankruptcy in December 2015, though it continues to trade. These ties are developed by Dr. Nosker at Rutgers University. Composite sleepers, manufactured from various recycled plastics, were introduced in Wiltshire , United Kingdom, in 2021. They were installed as an alternative to wooden sleepers, on a bridge where concrete sleepers would have been too heavy. Although it

679-489: A greater acoustic sharpness on straight stretches of track. Concrete ties were however shown to be quieter than wooden ties almost universal across the audible frequency band on curves. This causes train noise when over concrete ties to potentially be subjectively perceived as louder than train noise over wooden ties. On the highest categories of line in the UK (those with the highest speeds and tonnages), pre-stressed concrete ties are

776-494: A hole in the tie with his walking stick. For all of these reasons, it took the train several hours to complete its run of only 15 miles (24 km). No trains ran on Sunday, at least in April 1905. The railroad's early operations attracted some criticism from a local newspaper, which in an 1896 purported "advertisement" for the railroad, stated among other things: Their Elegant Steam Tub Leaves Astoria every day that she can escape

873-401: A joint may be 12 inches (305 mm) wide where the formation is soft or the traffic is heavy and fast. Sleepers are mostly spaced 2 ft 7 in (0.79 m) apart (centre-to-centre) but are closer adjacent to fishplated rail joints where the spacing sequences are as follows with the spacing at the fishplate highlighted . The fractional inch spacing at the fishplate corresponds to

970-468: A long dock out into deep water in Willapa Bay at Nahcotta. Willapa Bay was the location of a major oyster fishery, and transporting the harvested oysters south to Ilwaco, and eventually Portland, became a significant business of the railroad. The first Nahcotta depot was located just south of the tracks. The lading extended northwards from a freight door a few feet towards the track, which at that point had

1067-494: A longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with an adequate depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. It is a common misconception that concrete ties amplify wheel noise. A study done as part of Euronoise 2018 proved this false, showing concrete sleepers to be an average of 2dB(A) quieter than wooden ones, however with

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1164-527: A mile, the railroad ran along flat bench next to the river until it reached McGowan , where the McGowan family had built a large dock and a cannery. A passing track was built at McGowan. The railroad then entered the tunnel under Fort Columbia . Just on the west end of tunnel was the small depot for the fort's needs. A long pier extended into the river from Fort Columbia, this is shown on the Corps of Engineers maps as

1261-415: A new ferry for motor traffic and used of trucks instead of rail to deliver freight. There were some problems with the legality of the stock proposal, as the sale could not proceed without the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Local opposition was high, and the plan eventually came to nothing. This left abandonment of the line as the only realistic business option. In that time, abandonment of

1358-657: A pier and freighthouse on Baker's Bay at Ilwaco , near the mouth of the Columbia River . Later, on February 23, 1875, L.A. Loomis and some of the same incorporators of the Ilwaco Wharf Company incorporated the Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company, with the goal of buying a steamboat and running passengers and freight across the Columbia from Astoria to the Ilwaco wharf that they had built. They sold stock again, raised $ 25,000 in working capital, and for $ 22,000, bought

1455-476: A publicity campaign to get more summer vacationers to travel to the Long Beach Peninsula. Improvements were also made to the rolling and floating stock of the company. Starting in the summer season of 1910 through 1913 (there was a slight dip in 1912 due to persistent bad weather at the beach), these efforts produced the most business the company had ever seen. The summer of 1913 was the absolute peak for

1552-605: A ramp to allow rapid loading and unloading of automobiles. Pacific County, Washington helped out the Elving Company, giving them a $ 400 a year subsidy, and probably more importantly, building a road on pilings around the rocky promontory at Fort Columbia that the railroad had been forced to blast a tunnel through. In 1926, the Union Pacific Railroad tried to best the Elving company by building their own automobile ferry,

1649-469: A reckless bicycle rider" in Portland. Another report described the bicyclist as a "careless boy bicyclist"; Kamm was confined to his bed for many days. Kamm became ill on 1 December 1912, "being an invalid" since the 1907 bicycle wreck. By December 13, The Oregonian reported he "may only live a few hours", stating his condition was "sinking rapidly". The following day, he entered a coma and died. He

1746-507: A service life longer than wooden ties with an expected lifetime in the range of 30–80 years, that the ties are impervious to rot and insect attack, and that they can be modified with a special relief on the bottom to provide additional lateral stability. In some main track applications the hybrid plastic tie has a recessed design to be completely surrounded by ballast. Aside from the environmental benefits of using recycled material, plastic ties usually replace timber ties soaked in creosote,

1843-562: A single monolithic concrete casting. This system is in use in Austria ; in the Austrian system the track is fastened at the four corners of the frame, and is also supported midway along the frame. Adjacent frame ties are butted close to each other. Advantages of this system over conventional cross increased support of track. In addition, construction methods used for this type of track are similar to those used for conventional track. In ladder track,

1940-516: A stop called China, after the large number of Chinese cannery workers who lived there. Business increased substantially following the extension of the railroad. More passenger trains were run. Shipping of freight, particularly of raw logs increased greatly, until the Willapa Bay area was logged out a few years later. The extension had been built to allow ready conversion to standard gauge, by use of larger standard gauge cross-ties. However, by 1910,

2037-427: A tie rod are somewhat similar. Historically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, called axe ties , or sawn to achieve at least two flat sides. A variety of softwood and hardwood timbers are used as ties, oak , jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Some lines use softwoods , including Douglas fir ; while they have

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2134-428: A train of volunteers to Nahcotta to fight the fire. Structures lost included the first Nahcotta depot, valued at $ 1,500 for insurance purposes. The railroad's car sheds survived, as did the cars inside. Oysterville was not a stop on the original line. In 1890, citizens of Oysterville attempted to organize an extension of the railroad north from Nahcotta to improve business conditions there, but were not able to raise

2231-483: Is 3,250 wooden crossties per mile (2,019 ties/km, or 40 ties per 65 feet) for wood ties or 2,640 ties per mile for concrete ties. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway specified 18 sleepers per 45-foot (13.72 m) rail and 24 sleepers per 60-foot (18.29 m) rail, both of which correspond to 2,112 sleepers per mile. Sleepers are 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) long, 10 inches (254 mm) wide and 5 inches (127 mm) deep. The two sleepers adjacent to

2328-464: Is a pair of two pre-stressed concrete ties longitudinally connected by four steel rods. The design is said to be suitable for track with sharp curves, track subject to temperature stress such as that operated by trains with eddy brakes , and bridges, and as transition track between traditional track and slab track or bridges. Concrete monoblock ties have also been produced in a wider form (e.g. 57 cm or 22 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) such that there

2425-460: Is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks . Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade , hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge . Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood , but prestressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in

2522-415: Is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers (such as sal , mora , jarrah or azobé ) are durable enough that they can be used untreated. Problems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK (abrasive damage to the tie caused by lateral motion of

2619-589: Is no ballast between the ties; this wide tie increases lateral resistance and reduces ballast pressure. The system has been used in Germany where wide ties have also been used in conjunction with the GETRAC A3 ballastless track systems. Bi-block (or twinblock) ties consist of two concrete rail supports joined by a steel bar. Advantages include increased lateral resistance and lower weight than monobloc concrete ties, as well as elimination of damage from torsional forces on

2716-586: Is now a restaurant. The railroad's major destination was Long Beach, an early tourist trap, and location of a number of popular hotels, including the Tinker's Hotel and the Hotel Portland. The stop at the Breakers Hotel north of Long Beach was called Breakers Station and had a hotel. Cranberry Station was the next stop north of The Breakers. Loomis Station consisted of simply the mansion of Lewis A. Loomis,

2813-518: Is often limited due to rot. Some entrepreneurs sell new ties. Due to the presence of wood preservatives such as coal tar , creosote or salts of heavy metals , railroad ties introduce an extra element of soil pollution into gardens and are avoided by many property owners. In the UK, new oak or pine beams of the same length (2.4m) as standard railway sleepers, but not treated with dangerous chemicals, are available specifically for garden construction. In some places, railroad ties have been used in

2910-565: The Hejaz railway in the Arabian Peninsula where the dry, hot climate made wood ties unsatisfactory. Modern steel ties handle heavy loads, have a proven record of performance in signalized track, and handle adverse track conditions. Of high importance to railroad companies is the fact that steel ties are more economical to install in new construction than creosote-treated wood ties and concrete ties. Steel ties are utilized in nearly all sectors of

3007-575: The Jacob Kamm House was moved from its 14th and Main location in the 1950s to construct the current Lincoln High School . This estate near 14th and Main contained 11 acres (45,000 m ). Kamm married Caroline Augusta Gray on 13 September 1859 during the Pig War , on the PS Eliza Anderson steamer just outside Fort Hope, Canada . They had one son, Charles Tilton Kamm (1860-1906). Kamm

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3104-732: The Mississippi River , he was certified chief engineer with the St. Louis Association of Steamboat Engineers at age 25. In 1849, he moved west with the California Gold Rush , piloting the Blackhawk , a steamer, on the Sacramento River . Kamm moved to Oregon in 1850 after being hired by the Milwaukie, Oregon founder Lot Whitcomb onto his ship, The Lot Whitcomb , being the chief engineer on

3201-700: The Nahcotta , going south across the Columbia River to Astoria, and then boarding a train bound for Portland on the Astoria and Columbia Railroad . Since the rail trip from Astoria took as long to get to Portland as it took for the T. J. Potter to steam upriver, the alternative route was not favored. A traveller from Portland would board the train right on the dock at Megler. The train then proceeded almost due west for about 1/2 mile around Point Ellice, where, after 1921, Captain Elving's ferries would dock. Next, for about

3298-455: The North Beach. Union Pacific had ferry slips built at Astoria and at Megler. Although the North Beach was a well-built vessel, launched on April 28, 1927, with fanfare, and making its first run on July 6, 1927, North Beach could never manage to compete with Captain Elving's boats. J.W. McGowan, a businessman of McGowan , owned stock in Elving's ferry company, and he made it difficult for

3395-764: The Northern Pacific abandoned its plans to build out to the mouth of the Columbia on the north bank, and as a result the Ilwaco railroad never had any outside rail connection. On December 23, 1910, the Union Pacific , the owner of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company reorganized its operations, and the Ilwaco railroad became officially known as the Ilwaco Division of the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company . The company then embarked on

3492-647: The Willamette River . The Lot Whitcomb was launched on 25 December 1850. Kamm and John C. Ainsworth joined with Abernathy and Clark, merchants from Oregon City, in 1854 or 1855 to build the Jenny Clark , a sternwheeler on the Willamette. Kamm owned half of the Jenny Clark , Ainsworth owned a quarter, and Abernathy and Clark shared the remaining quarter. They then built the Carrie Ladd steamer in 1858, called

3589-429: The chairs holding the rails fixed to those blocks. One advantage of this method of construction was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with ever heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge . The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss , where timber ties had to be used. Bi-block ties with

3686-798: The "keystone of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company ". He was a founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company in 1879 and a shareholder in the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company . He built steamboats including in 1891, the Ocean Wave and in 1900, Athlon . One of the companies he owned was the Vancouver Transportation Company. Kamm sold property to the city in about 1910 to construct Old Lincoln High School , currently known as Portland State University 's Lincoln Hall. His 1870s French Second Empire style home,

3783-471: The Long Beach Peninsula from Portland (the source of most of the tourist business) to the railroad's dock at Megler. The railroad still ran the steamers Harvest Queen and Nahcotta down the Columbia until 1921, but apparently only on the Portland-Astoria run. This left only the previously thought inferior route of taking a train from Portland to Astoria and then a steamboat (usually the Nahcotta ) to

3880-481: The Megler dock. However, by 1920, the real competitor for the railroad had become the automobile. A paved highway on the south bank of the Columbia was completed in 1916, running from Portland to Astoria. On May 1, 1921, regular automobile ferry service was initiated from Astoria to a dock at McGowan, west of railroad's dock at Megler and closer to the Long Beach Peninsula. Now people could drive their automobiles all

3977-545: The Portland firm of Hawgood & Habersham as engineering consultants. The 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge was selected to save money on grading and other construction. Also, smaller and less expensive engines and cars could be used. The rails themselves, as well as one of the first engines, came from the Utah & Northern Railway , which had been converted to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge in 1887. The rails were light, 35 pounds to

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4074-570: The UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. Tie spacing may depend on the type of tie, traffic loads and other requirements, for example 2,640 concrete ties per mile on North American mainline railroads to 2,112 timber ties per mile on LMS jointed track. Rails in

4171-448: The US may be fastened to the tie by a railroad spike ; iron/steel baseplates screwed to the tie and secured to the rail by a proprietary fastening system such as a Vossloh or Pandrol which are commonly used in Europe. The type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway ( Liverpool and Manchester Railway ) consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, with

4268-604: The Willapa Bay run was the Edgar . Large logs were hauled out to the Ilwaco dock chained down to flat cars, one log to a car. There, they were dumped in Baker's Bay to be made into rafts for water transport to sawmills. Feagans also reports that very large logs were hauled on disconnect logging trucks, and provides a photo, but gives no date or location. In 1891, the company's officers were L.A. Loomis, president, J.R. Goulter, secretary, and R.V. Egbert, Superintendent. Egbert left in 1895 and

4365-490: The advantage of accepting treatment more readily, they are more susceptible to wear but are cheaper, lighter (and therefore easier to handle) and more readily available. Softwood is treated, with creosote being the most common preservative for railway ties. Other preservatives used include pentachlorophenol and chromated copper arsenate . Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper . New boron -based wood preserving technology

4462-512: The ballast. This is due to better damping properties of hybrid plastic ties and composite ties, which will decrease the intensity of vibrations as well as the sound production. In 2009, Network Rail announced that it would begin replacing wooden ties with recycled plastic. but I-Plas became insolvent in October 2012. In 2012, New Zealand ordered a trial batch of "EcoTrax" brand recycled composite ties from Axion for use on turnouts and bridges, and

4559-513: The beach than it is today, because of sand accretion. The depot at Ocean Park was located on the east side of the tracks immediately to the north of a road crossing. There were several businesses in the area. The railroad transported boxes of canned razor clams from canneries at Ocean Park. The railroad also built a siding in Ocean Park for the Ilwaco Mill & Lumber Company. The railroad built

4656-511: The boat hurried off, and the train whistled shrilly and clattered away with its load of passengers. The line made connections with steamboats at both ends. At Ilwaco, steamboats meeting the trains included, at various times, the Ilwaco , Suomi , General Canby , Nahcotta , and the Ocean Wave . From 1894 to 1896, the company also put the naptha launch Iris on the Astoria-Ilwaco run. In 1898,

4753-415: The business of hauling logs from Nahcotta down to Ilwaco. The company acquired the steam tug Flora Bell to round up log tows on Willapa Bay and bring them to Nahcotta to be loaded onto trains bound for Ilwaco. For a number of years there had been a plan by various persons and companies to build a standard gauge railroad all along the north bank of the Columbia from the ocean at Ilwaco to Wallula Gap near

4850-524: The construction of homes, particularly among those with lower incomes, especially near railroad tracks, including railroad employees. They are also used as cribbing for docks and boathouses . The Spanish artist Agustín Ibarrola has used recycled ties from Renfe in several projects. In Germany, use of wooden railroad ties as building material (namely in gardens, houses and in all places where regular contact to human skin would be likely, in all areas frequented by children and in all areas associated with

4947-556: The crew of the Klipsan Beach Life Saving Station to wherever a vessel might have stranded on the beach along the line. Occasional special runs were made to bring on-lookers to a wreck site, and weekly excursions were made to take vacationers to watch the lifeboat rescue drills at the Klipsan Beach Station. Ocean Park had been founded by Methodists as an alcohol-free summer community. It was much closer to

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5044-611: The eagle eye of the Inspectors. Passengers are required to furnish themselves with life preservers, and to take their own risks, and also a pair of stilts in case of low water on the spit. Notice --A spotter is employed on every train, to prevent beach visitors from being robbed by the Ilwaco Councilmen and attorney, while en route through the city. Keep on the train and no danger need be apprehended from that source. Passengers alighting in Ilwaco do so at their own risk. Because of

5141-716: The existing ballast, unlike concrete ties which require a full depth of new ballast. Steel ties are 100% recyclable and require up to 60% less ballast than concrete ties and up to 45% less than wood ties. Historically, steel ties have suffered from poor design and increased traffic loads over their normally long service life. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and speed capacity but can still be found in many locations globally and performing adequately despite decades of service. There are great numbers of steel ties with over 50 years of service and in some cases they can and have been rehabilitated and continue to perform well. Steel ties were also used in specialty situations, such as

5238-442: The extreme shallow water at the railroad's dock in Ilwaco restricted steamboat access to times when it was permitted by the tide, for so long as the railroad's southern terminus was at Ilwaco, the railroad's schedule was based on the tide charts. For example, a schedule for April, 1905, shows times of departure from Astoria for the steamer Nahcotta as varying from as early as 5:00 a.m. to as late as 8:30 a.m. Mills imagined

5335-516: The foot (52 kg/m). By 1888, the railroad had picked up some more used rolling stock from the Utah and Northern, and completed laying track to Long Beach . Construction began in April, 1888, starting at Ilwaco. The corporation was reorganized at about the same time, so that the Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company became the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company (incorporated August 16, 1888). Grading

5432-477: The founder and president of the line. The station was on the east side of the line. L.A. Loomis died in 1913, his mansion fell into disrepair, and the railroad ceased making stops at Loomis. (The ghost station of Loomis Station should not be confused with the community of Loomis, Washington in Okanogan County .) Oceanside is reported to have been an unscheduled stop from 1908 to 1930. The railroad also took

5529-548: The funds to do so. In August, 1900, Loomis sold his stock to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company , which assumed total control over the railroad, which had then total assets in rolling stock, track, and real property valued at $ 248,000. The new owners made a number improvements to the track and rolling stock of the railroad. Trains now ran faster and on time. The dock and railroad facilities at Nahcotta were improved. Two important safety items, air brakes and Janney couplers , were adopted in 1903. The railroad also got into

5626-502: The groundbreaking ceremonies over forty years before, addressed the citizenry from the rear platform of the train. Taps was sounded from an old bugle, and as the 3:30 train departed for the last time a salute was fired from the town cannon, to be answered with a long trailing whistle from the locomotive. Jacob Kamm Jacob Kamm (12 December 1823 – 16 December 1912) was a prominent early transportation businessman in Oregon , USA. Kamm

5723-404: The idea of building a railroad to replace the stage coach line that they had used to make the connection between Ilwaco and points on the Long Beach Peninsula. Loomis and others incorporated the Ilwaco, Shoalwater Bay & Grays Harbor Railroad on November 23, 1883. Survey work was commissioned, to be done by Major A.F. Searles, of Portland . It was estimated that the railroad could be built for

5820-466: The improvement of service so that it only took an hour to complete the train's journey from Ilwaco to Nahcotta. Presumably things had improved by 1905, when the railroad claimed to be able to make the run in just an hour from south to north. At Nahcotta the propeller steamers Shamrock and Reliable would meet the train at the end of the Nahcotta dock, and pick up passengers bound for South Bend across Willapa Bay . In 1896, another steamer employed on

5917-546: The junction of the Snake and the Columbia rivers. The first leg of this work was to be a railroad built along the north shore of the Columbia river from Ilwaco to Knappton, a small settlement 17 miles (27 km) to the east. The work was contracted out by the Columbia Valley Railroad , but it was supervised by the chief engineer of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company . After various legal and survey matters settled

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6014-709: The latter being a toxic chemical, and are theoretically recyclable. However, plastics may shed microplastics and leach other possibly toxic chemicals such as ultraviolet inhibitors. Hybrid plastic railroad ties and composite ties are used in other rail applications such as underground mining operations, industrial zones, humid environments and densely populated areas. Hybrid railroad ties are also used to be partly exchanged with rotten wooden ties, which will result in continuous track stiffness. Hybrid plastic ties and composite ties also offer benefits on bridges and viaducts, because they lead to better distribution of forces and reduction of vibrations into respectively bridge girders or

6111-401: The only ones permitted by Network Rail standards. Most European railways also now use concrete bearers in switches and crossing layouts due to the longer life and lower cost of concrete bearers compared to timber, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to source in sufficient quantities and quality. Steel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section. The ends of

6208-467: The pier "QM", for quartermaster. The next stop on the line was Chinook , where the railway ran through the streets of the small town. By 1927, an auto road had been built from Megler to Chinook and then to Ilwaco. This roadway ran parallel to the railway up to Chinook, where the railway then went inland somewhat to cross the Wallicut river. Subsequent stops on the line's extension were Ellis, Wallicut, and

6305-491: The railroad commissioned the twin-propeller steamer Nahcotta , built in Portland, Oregon in 1898 and after resolving some engine troubles, placed her on the Astoria-Ilwaco run. After the line was acquired by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company in 1900, the company put the T. J. Potter on the route from Portland direct to Ilwaco to bring more vacationers to the Long Beach Peninsula . The new company also made improvements to line's trackage, which presumably resulted in

6402-471: The railroad then hit on the idea of forming a new subsidiary, the Astoria, North Shore and Willapa Harbor Railroad, selling stock in the railroad to local residents, and then using the proceeds from the stock sale to buy out its losing operation. Supposedly the new operation would return the route to profitability by operating cheaper small diesel-electric engines and cut its expenses by 90%. The plan also included

6499-552: The railroad to build a road over his property to their competing ferry dock at Megler. Union Pacific shut down ferry operations to Megler in September 1930 selling to one of its employees, claiming they'd lost $ 40,000 per year in the ferry business. Roads were extended and improved in the Long Beach Peninsula in the early 1920s. At the same time freight business fell off sharply for the railroad. Steamboat connections were lost both at Nahcotta and Columbia River terminals. Meanwhile,

6596-410: The railroad was still trying to pay the expenses for the expansion of the Megler facilities to accommodate the ferry enterprise. In 1925, motor truck operators in Astoria started using the ferries to transfer directly over to the Long Beach Peninsula which cut sharply into the railroad's freight business. The railroad calculated that the line had suffered losses of $ 300,000 from 1925 to 1928. Apparently

6693-441: The railroad, and would never come back to that peak. Even so, the owners continued to make some investments in the line, such as completing the relaying of the line with 56-pound rails all the way up to Nahcotta. A paved highway was completed from Portland to Astoria which caused river passenger traffic to fall off. The T. J. Potter was condemned at the start of the 1916 season and not replaced, which cut off direct water access to

6790-469: The railroad. The weather was good, a competitor resort had been destroyed by fire, and jetty projects at the mouth of the Columbia River required hauling passengers and freight. New facilities were built at Nahcotta and improvements were made to the station and trackage in Ilwaco. At this time, there were few automobiles on the Long Beach Peninsula. The railroad charged $ 68 to transport an automobile from Portland to Ilwaco. After 1913, business fell off for

6887-501: The resistance to track movement is very good. For curves the three-point contact of a Y steel tie means that an exact geometric fit cannot be observed with a fixed attachment point. The cross section of the ties is an I-beam . As of 2006, less than 1,000 km (621 mi) of Y-tie track had been built, of which approximately 90 percent is in Germany . The ZSX Twin tie is manufactured by Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co KG and

6984-425: The rest of the line continued through the rest of 1888. The line had reached Long Beach by July 19, 1888. The northern terminus had been originally planned to be at place called New Saratoga, one-half mile south of Oysterville . It turned out that a better steamboat landing was at Nahcotta , about 5 miles (8 km) south of Oysterville, and so Nahcotta became the northern end of the line. By January 1889, grading

7081-440: The rock at Scarborough Head. This was right under an army coast defense facility known as Fort Columbia . A large dock, supposedly the largest on the Columbia was built at Megler. The tunnel was 910 feet (277 m) long and The dock was reported to measure 120 feet (37 m) by 900 feet (270 m) in area. Entire trains would run out on the Megler dock to large depot to meet steamboats arriving from Portland or Astoria. Because

7178-466: The route (which actually ran inland from the Columbia shore), construction began in 1907 and was finally completed, following many legal and financial difficulties, in June, 1908, with a terminus at Megler . The railroad never quite made it to Knappton, which was about one and a half miles further east. The most notable engineering feature of the extension was a tunnel, the only one on the line, blasted through

7275-438: The scene as follows: Just in time for the high tide of Ilwaco, a pompous little train rattled in from Nahcotta and waited at the wharf; then from across the bay would come the steamer, a neat side-wheeler such as the Ocean Wave , and tie up at the dock. Passengers rushed ashore to get good seats in the narrow coaches, while freight and baggage from the boat was tumbled on the dock. Quickly, before an ebbing tide could ground it,

7372-449: The scene as follows: With Clem Morris at the throttle, engine No. 2, dragging a coach and the combine, made its leisurely way south from Nahcotta and then returned. Mrs. Taylor, of Ocean Park , who had been on the first train in 1889, was a prominent passenger on the last one. On the engine the peninsula residents hung a mourning wreath for a railroad that had served them well for 42 years. *** Ilwaco 's Mayor Brumbach, who had attended

7469-665: The steamboat General Canby . Other steamboats making the run to Ilwaco in the days before the railroad was built include the U.S. Grant , the R.R. Thompson , and the General Miles . From 1884 to 1888, the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company is reported to have put the Alaskan (sidewheeler) on the run from Portland to Ilwaco. For a number of years the company struggled to make a profit, relying on government mail and troop transport contracts, which did not pay much. Eventually L.A. Loomis and some of his fellow entrepreneurs settled on

7566-430: The thermal expansion gap allowed between the rail ends. Interurban railways of the late 1800s and early 1900s generally ran lighter rolling stock than mainline steam railways, but roadbeds were built to similar standards. Wooden ties were placed at approximately 2-foot (0.61 m) intervals. Various methods exist for fixing the rail to the railroad ties. Historically spikes gave way to cast iron chairs fixed to

7663-507: The tie are shaped to form a "spade" which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the fastening system are welded to the upper surface of the tie. Steel ties are now in widespread use on secondary or lower-speed lines in the UK where they have been found to be economical to install due their ability to be installed on the existing ballast bed. Steel ties are lighter in weight than concrete and able to stack in compact bundles unlike timber. Steel ties can be installed onto

7760-478: The tie plate) and spike-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). Wooden ties can catch fire; as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge and more easily start fires. Concrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry , especially when installed with continuous-welded rail. Concrete ties have

7857-440: The tie, more recently springs (such as Pandrol clips ) are used to fix the rail to the tie chair. In recent years, wooden railroad ties have also become popular for gardening and landscaping , both in creating retaining walls and raised-bed gardens, and sometimes for building steps as well. Traditionally, the ties sold for this purpose are decommissioned ties taken from rail lines when replaced with new ties, and their lifespan

7954-411: The ties are laid parallel to the rails and are several meters long. The structure is similar to Brunel's baulk track; these longitudinal ties can be used with ballast, or with elastomer supports on a solid non-ballasted support. The crosstie spacing of mainline railroad is approximately 19 to 19.5 inches (48 to 50 cm) for wood ties or 24 inches (61 cm) for concrete ties. The number of ties

8051-457: The ties center due to the more flexible steel connections. This tie type is in common use in France, and are used on the high-speed TGV lines. Bi-block ties are also used in ballastless track systems. They are gauge-convertible by cutting and welding the steel bar to the dimension that suits the new gauge. Frame ties ( German : Rahmenschwelle ) comprise both lateral and longitudinal members in

8148-454: The ties, steel ties may be used with track circuit based train detection and track integrity systems. Without insulation, steel ties may only be used on lines without block signaling and level crossings or on lines that use other forms of train detection such as axle counters . In more recent times, a number of companies are selling composite railroad ties manufactured from recycled plastic resins and recycled rubber. Manufacturers claim

8245-542: The water was deep enough all the time at the Megler dock, the railroad was finally able to run independently of the tide. In 1903, T.J. Potter made daily trips, departing from the Ash Street dock in Portland at 8:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, no run on Sundays). The heavily retouched photograph at right shows the Megler dock looking southeast. At this time, the Willapa Transportation Company

8342-462: The way to Astoria and onto a ferry to take them over to the Long Beach Peninsula, without the need of either railroad or steamboat. Ferry traffic quickly rose, and the ferry company, owned by Captain Fritz S. Elving, rapidly built new ferries ( Tourist , Tourist No. 2 , and later, Tourist No. 3 ) and dock facilities. The ferries departed from a specially-built dock at 14th Street in Astoria which included

8439-515: The west side of the Ilwaco dock. A water tank was located at Holman Station, which was also known as the Willows. The railroad kept a cranberry warehouse at Black Lake, a little north of Ilwaco. Feagans states that this warehouse was built about March 1915, the same time that the second Nahcotta depot was built to replace the one that had been destroyed by fire in January of that year. Black Lake itself

8536-419: The worldwide railroad systems including heavy-haul, class 1s, regional, shortlines, mining, electrified passenger lines (OHLE) and all manner of industries. Notably, steel ties (bearers) have proven themselves over the last few decades to be advantageous in turnouts (switches/points) and provide the solution to the ever-growing problem of long timber ties for such use. When insulated to prevent conduction through

8633-627: Was a Mason , being inducted at age 21 in St. Louis. In Portland, he was affiliated with the Multnomah Lodge in Oregon City, then the Willamette Lodge in Portland. He was also a Knights Templar and a Shriner . Caroline Augusta Gray was born on 16 October 1840 at Camp Lapwai , outside Lewiston, Idaho . Her father was William H. Gray . She died in 1932. In December 1907, Kamm was "run down by

8730-592: Was almost complete all the way to Nahcotta, however, the railroad had run out of money when the track only reached as far as Ocean Park . More funds were raised, and by May 1889, the railroad had been completed to Nahcotta, costing twice the originally estimated $ 100,000. The line was built with 35-pound-per-foot rail, which was too light for the equipment. Loomis as president was very frugal, especially on maintenance expenses. For example, even though there were several derailments caused by rotting cross-ties , Loomis refused to pay for any replacements unless he could punch

8827-500: Was born on 12 December 1823, in Canton of Glarus , Switzerland . His family migrated to America when he was 8 to Illinois , St. Louis and then New Orleans . He worked as a printer's devil beginning at age 12. A story repeated after Kamm's death was that a thief stole $ 12 from him in 1837, leading Kamm to work on a Mississippi steamer, the Ark , as a cabin boy. Trained as an engineer on

8924-605: Was buried at the River View Cemetery in Portland. At time of death, his estate was valued at approximately $ 4 million. Aside from the Jacob Kamm home and property, he also owned a half-block building at Front and Pine, a quarter block at Third and Yamhill, a quarter block at First and Washington, the Vancouver Transportation Company , was a "heavy stockholder" in the First National Bank of Astoria, and

9021-490: Was no question that the line was financially hopeless; passenger traffic had declined from almost 33,000 riders in 1924 to only 10,700 in 1929. Operating revenues amounted only to $ 18,622 in 1928, while expenses hovered at nearly $ 85,000. Worse, the O-WR&;N had incurred a deficit of $ 127,000 rebuilding the Megler terminal and roadway for the ill-fated ferry service. The last train was run on September 9, 1930. Feagans describes

9118-497: Was replaced by Wallace Glover. Loomis and Coulter held their positions at least through 1896. Stops on the line in 1896 in order from south to north were Ilwaco, Holman Station, Seaview, Long Beach, Tioga, Breakers Station, Pacific Park, Cranberry Station, Oceanside, Loomis, Ocean Park, and Nahcotta. The railroad ran south down First Street in Ilwaco, and then out onto a dock in Baker's Bay. Floating logs were stored behind log booms on

9215-543: Was running both of their steamboats, the Reliable and the Shamrock , on the run from South Bend to the Long Beach Peninsula, so that it was now possible to travel from South Bend by steamboat to Nahcotta, board the train and ride down to Megler, transfer to the T. J. Potter , and travel on the T. J. Potter upriver to Portland. The fare for this was $ 4.25 one-way and $ 7.25 round trip. The only alternative route required transfer to

9312-465: Was sometimes called Johnson Lake or Whealdon's Pond. B.A. Seaborg, one of the founders of the Ilwaco railroad, had a sawmill on the lake, where he cut boards to make crates to pack the salmon he canned at his plant (called "Aberdeen Packing Company") on Main Street in Ilwaco . There was only a platform and shed at Seaview until 1905 when a regular depot was built. That depot building still exists, and

9409-522: Was the first instance of plastic sleepers being installed on mainline track in the country, they have previously been used on narrow-gauge railways . Ties may also be made from fiberglass . An unusual form of tie is the Y-shaped tie, first developed in 1983. Compared to conventional ties, the volume of ballast required is reduced due to the load-spreading characteristics of the Y-tie. Noise levels are high but

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