The Pengra Pass rail route, also known as the Natron Cutoff, the Cascade Subdivision, or the Cascade Line, is a

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

line (originally a

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

line) connecting

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, with

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

. Construction of the line began in 1905 and was completed in the mid-1920s. Its name denotes a mountain pass on the Lane County– Klamath County boundary in the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, about from

Willamette Pass Willamette Pass () is a mountain pass crossing the crest of the Cascade Range in Oregon, United States. It is less commonly known as Willamette Summit. The pass is traversed by Oregon Route 58 and by Union Pacific's (ex-Southern Pacific) Cascad ...

. The line heads southeast from Eugene, up the Cascades and over Pengra Pass, then southward beside

U.S. Route 97 U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a major north–south route of the United States Numbered Highway System in the Pacific Northwest region. It runs for approximately through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, primarily serving in ...

to Klamath Falls, where it splits in two, each track continuing into

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The route has at least 22 tunnels, several

snow shed Avalanche control or avalanche defense activities reduce the hazard avalanches pose to human life, activity, and property.Siskiyou Pass Siskiyou Pass (sometimes called Siskiyou Summit) is a historic mountain pass in the Siskiyou Mountains of Jackson County. It is the most used pass in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) made the Siskiyou Trail over the pass ...

route, which runs south from Eugene and over Siskiyou Pass to California. As a result, the Siskiyou Pass route was rendered nearly obsolete. In 2008, a landslide in the area shut down rail traffic for 105 days, which forced Union Pacific trains to make lengthy detours and Amtrak to halt services between Eugene and Sacramento, severing a key west coast rail link. In 2011, no trains had used the Siskiyou Pass route in almost a decade. By 2015 however, that line was reopening to relieve I-5 of local truck traffic. On May 29, 2018, one of the tunnels, known as Tunnel 11, caved in during scheduled maintenance work, shutting down rail traffic for 3 weeks. Union Pacific rerouted their freight trains running between Northern California and Portland through a lengthy detour, while Amtrak service did not operate between Eugene and Sacramento (initially between Eugene and Klamath Falls, with a bus bridge between the two points). Nonetheless, a major helper operation is demanded by the Pengra Pass route's of constant grade—the longest anywhere on the former Southern Pacific system, including

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appro ...

. The right-of-way is surrounded by waterfalls and streams running through a

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

forest. At many locations, the track runs atop the steep southern slopes of the Salt Creek canyon.

References

External links

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **{{HAER , survey=OR-96 , id=or0462 , title=Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Cruzatte Tank, Milepost 545.4, McCredie Springs, Lane County, OR, photos=1 , data=7 , cap=1 , link=no Historic American Engineering Record in California Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon Southern Pacific Railroad lines Rail transportation in Oregon Union Pacific Railroad lines

See also

References

External links