I’ll be visiting the greater Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area in the near future and I’m working on my “must see” list pertaining to model railroading and prototype. I was hopping to get a glimpse of SP 4449 but could find no info on whether or not that is a possibility. Please reply if you have any suggestions for my visit. I’ll be there for about a week so I should have some opportunities to sneak out while the wife is occupied w/ family.
Here are a few of my thought after having lived in Portland for a year (ten years ago), and visiting that area once or twice a year since:
Best hobby shops: Whistle Stop Trains, The Hobby Smith (especially for N-scale), and Tammy’s Hobbies in Beaverton (all are in the MR Retail Directory for contact info)
Best railfanning spots: Vancouver and Union Station. There are lots of other locations where you can see trains, but for sheer volume of train movements, the Vancouver Amtrak station platform/parking lot is hard to beat. You also must see Union Station. It is a functional passenger depot, with the largest number of arrivals/departures of any station in the Northwest. Plus, it still looks like a classic big-city station should look! There is a pedestrian bridge just south of the depot that offers good train watching. An short walk will get you to the Steel Bridge, with its track-level pedestrian deck leading to an overlook of the busy wye on the other side of the river.
Hopefully, other folks familiar with Portland will chime in with their insights on other locations. Enjoy your trip!
Tom
If you are in town on a Tuesday night, the Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club, should be high on your list of things to see. The club meets every Tuesday (officially meets at 7:00 pm, but members are often there much earlier) with the first Tuesday of each month being the operating night.
The layout measures approximately 60’x70’ and models the Columbia River Gorge from Portland, OR to Wishram, WA, it also includes the Oregon Trunk Line from Wishram, Wa to Bend, OR and an Extensive Logging division, that is a sizeable layout in it’s own right.
If you make it, ask for a tour UNDER the layout, as 60% of the track (over 3 ACTUAL miles) is hidden from view.
some of the notable features include:
A scale scratchbuilt replica of Portland’s Union Staion
a working model of Portland’s Steel Bridge (compressed for length)
scratbuilt model ot the “Vista House” on Crown point
a working rotary coal dump
a working “Log Jammer” at the Hood River sawmill
many breath taking scenes, as well as small humorous scenes all over the layout,
and my personal Favorite operating position during our open house in November, our 9 stall roundhouse, and engine facility.
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Thanks for the tips. Keep them coming! I guess I know where I’ll be on Tues. night when I’m there! Keep the tips coming. I used to live in PDX back when St. Helens blew in 1980 so I’m pretty familiar w/ the layout of the city but wasn’t a big RR fan back then. I plan to hit Union Station and the shops mentioned. I forgot to mention that I model HO.
At Vancouver station, there’s the old SP&S yards–you’ll see it/them from the station. You can drive around the edge a bit and check it out. For the “other” railroad (UP), there’s Albina yard, the engine terminal across the river from Union station, and Multnomah Falls aways out of town. The UP tracks go right by the falls. Your wife would probably enjoy the falls, too.
There have been RDC’s that go out to Astoria. I rode the ex-GN one. IF they’re still running, that’d be a fun day trip. There’s a nice maritime museum right near the station.
A PROPER SP&S fan would of course take highway 14 east out of town to follow the ex-SP&S mainline as far as seems advisable. It’s right along the north bank of the Columbia. Or, if you’re visiting Multnomah Falls, you can continue on that side of the river to follow the UP for as long as you’re up for it.
I’ve been to the above mentioned club, and was very happy I went–nicely done!
Ed
I just wanted to bump this up one last time just in case someone hadn’t seen it and had a chance to reply. Thanks again for the replies
I hooked up w/ someone from the Columbia club who I had met earlier this summer at the NMRA convention and had exchanged contact info with. The Southern Pacific Historical Society happens to be holding their annual convention on the weekend after Labor Day and are touring the Brooklyn Roundhouse. I’m not a member, and it really wouldn’t be worth the $$$ to pay for attending since I wouldn’t really be able to attend much due to other commitments.
Vic’s Hobby shop on NE Broadway is another shop, they have a nice HO layout down stairs.
My wife’s brother suggested taking a ride on the Hood River RR dinner train. Any thoughts?
Vic’s is O scale. Large basement layout, focus on train running. The operators gather on Saturday, so that’s a good day to ask at Vic’s to see the basement layout. There is something fantastic about it, as there are long trains running in the basement of a store.
Also, Labor Day only, Samtrak (Oregon Pacific) will be running from OMSI area to Oaks Park.
Be sure to ride MAX, the light rail system. Just to ride over the Steel Bridge is good. Also there is a little steam engine at the zoo that is fun, at least for my kids.
Peter
If you have some time, you could also consider a visit to the Mt Hood Model Engineers. Here is their webpage with all the info you would need to visit the group:[C):-)]
Its been years since i was at Vic’s hobby shop and yes now that I think about it, yes it is O-scale.
If you run out of RR-related things to do or want a change of pace, you could visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to see the USS Blueback, SS 581. She was the last diesel sub acquired by the Navy and the last one in operation. Her last skipper was my wife’s father. He recommended reading “Blind Man’s Bluff” if you want to know what a diesel sub hung around for for so long after the rest of the sub force went nuclear…
[:#]
I actually visited aboard Blueback on its shakedown cruise to Panama in 1960 (dad was in the AF at Albrook AFB and we happened to see it while it was briefly in port.) Haven’t been to Portland yet myself, so a revisit to the Blueback is something I’m looking forward to… besides the trains[:)]
Quick report. The better half gave me the day off yesterday while she spent time w/ her brother. Visited Whistle Stop Trains, Hobby Smith, Union Station and Columbia Gorge Club and all were worth it. The Columbia Gorge layout is a must if you’re in the area IMHO. BTW, no rain, and temps were in the high 80s yesterday. Doing the Hood River RR dinner train on Saturday.