The

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 ...

's (UP) Hinkle Locomotive Service and Repair Facility is located within the railroad's

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

at Hinkle,

Umatilla County, Oregon Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The first locomotive shop and servicing facilities at Hinkle were constructed in 1951 as part of the general relocation of railroads and highways in north-central Oregon because of the construction of the McNary Dam on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. Before 1951, the primary yard and locomotive facilities in the area were located at

Rieth, Oregon Rieth is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is south of Interstate 84 in Oregon, Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30 in Oregon, U.S. Route 30/U.S. Route 395 in Oregon, U ...

, four miles west of

Pendleton Pendleton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Pendleton, Lancashire, England *Pendleton, Greater Manchester, England ;United States *Pendleton, Indiana * Pendleton, Missouri *Pendleton, New York *Pendleton, Oregon *Pendleton, South Carolina *Pe ...

. As a result of the construction of the McNary Dam, and later the

John Day Dam The John Day Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River in the northwestern United States. The dam features a navigation lock plus fish ladders on both sides. The John Day Lock has the highest lift (at ) of any U.S. ...

, the UP mainline from

Boardman, Oregon Boardman is a city in Morrow County, Oregon, United States on the Columbia River and Interstate 84. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,220. It is currently the largest town in Morrow County, Oregon. History Boardman was homesteaded ...

to Juniper, Oregon, would be flooded in numerous places due to the backpools behind the dams. UP took advantage of this situation to consolidate trackage and replace antiquated locomotive maintenance and repair facilities at Rieth and Umatilla. In 1951, the original locomotive shop and servicing facility was constructed as part of the creation of a new yard at Hinkle to replace the yards at Umatilla and Rieth. Before 1951, Hinkle had merely been the junction of the original

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...

(OR&N) mainline which ran north to Umatilla and then west to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, and the Coyote Cutoff which was constructed in 1914-1915 between Hinkle and Boardman where it rejoined the original OR&N mainline. From 1977 to 1997, Hinkle served as an Amtrak stop along the ''

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

'' route. This station stop provided rail passenger service to local communities including Hermiston, Boardman, and Stanfield. The Hinkle Amtrak station, a typical Amtrak passenger shed and parking lot, is now property of the Union Pacific Railroad and off limits to the public.

References

* * * {{coord, 45.796614, -119.26579, type:landmark_region:US-OR, display=t Properties of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway buildings and structures in Oregon Railway workshops in the United States Transportation buildings and structures in Umatilla County, Oregon 1951 establishments in Oregon