Wallowa Union Railroad Authority

Wallowa Union Railroad Authority
A WURR engine in Elgin, Oregon, in 2012
Reporting mark WURR
Locale Oregon
Dates of operation 2003–
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length 62.58 mi (100.71 km)

The Wallowa Union Railroad Authority (reporting mark WURR) is a short-line railroad owned by Wallowa County and Union County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It operates freight and tourist trains over a 62.58-mile (100.71 km) ex-Union Pacific Railroad line from the end of an Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad branch at Elgin to Joseph, generally paralleling Oregon Route 82.

The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, a predecessor of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), completed a branch from the main line at La Grande through Elgin to Joseph in late 1908.[1] The Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad (INPR) leased (from La Grande to Elgin) and bought (from Elgin to Joseph) the line, among others, from the UP in November 1993.[2] The Surface Transportation Board authorized abandonment beyond Elgin in 1997,[3] but this was not consummated, and in 2002 Wallowa County purchased the line, still operated by the INPR.[4] The new Wallowa Union Railroad Authority took over ownership from Wallowa County and operations from the INPR in 2003.[5][6]

Since 2003, the Eagle Cap Excursion Train has operated on the line.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, The Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company (OR&N) And Related Companies, accessed February 2009
  2. ↑ Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition, Kalmbach Publishing, 1996, p. 154
  3. ↑ STB Docket No. AB-433X, March 12, 1997
  4. ↑ STB Finance Docket No. 34214, June 17, 2002
  5. ↑ STB Finance Docket No. 34349, November 26, 2003
  6. ↑ Railroad Retirement Board, Employer Status Determination: Wallowa Union Railroad Authority, June 10, 2003
  7. ↑ Anderson, Chuck (July 28, 2011). "Free of debt and stored rail cars, railroad sees clear tracks ahead". The Observer. La Grande, Oregon. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
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