A wood trestle on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad was damaged by fire on October 8, and the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. 

The trestle, owned by the Port of Tillamook Bay and leased to OCSR along with the rest of the former Southern Pacific branchline along the Oregon Coast, is located near Tillamook. It is not used by OCSR’s regular excursions and is not expected to impact the tourist road’s daily operations. However, it sits on a section of track connecting the excursion route with OCSR’s main restoration facility. Until the bridge is repaired or rebuilt, all equipment moving between the two sites will need to be transported by truck. 

As this story went to press, the railroad was seeking the help of a bridge inspector to determine if the structure was a total loss and whether it would need to be rebuilt from the ground up. The local sheriff’s office is currently investigating the cause of the blaze, and the railroad has been in contact with state and federal law enforcement agencies since the railroad is federally regulated, making a targeted act a federal crime. 

This is the second excursion railroad in the Pacific Northwest to be affected by a bridge fire this year. In late April, a bridge on the Mount Rainier Scenic was also destroyed by fire. The cause of that fire is still under investigation. 

—Justin Franz