By Justin Franz

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Rail Heritage Center could have a turntable installed on its property by the end of summer. The Portland-based museum has been working with contractors to install the turntable that was once at Southern Pacific’s Brooklyn Yard in Southeast Portland. The turntable will not only give the non-profit a new exhibit but it’ll help the museum’s resident steam locomotives get on the main line should the opportunity arise again. 

The Oregon Rail Heritage Center is the permanent home to three city-owned steam locomotives: Southern Pacific “Daylight” 4-8-4 4449; Spokane, Portland & Seattle 4-8-4 700; and Oregon Railroad & Navigation 4-6-2 197, which is currently being restored to service. A fourth, Mount Emily Lumber Co. 1, a three-truck Shay built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1923, is also expected to join the fleet this year after it was acquired in September. 

For decades, the city’s three steam locomotives called SP’s Brooklyn Yard roundhouse home. But in the 2000s, the roundhouse was being knocked down for a new intermodal yard and so the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation was formed to build a permanent home. The rail center opened near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (better known as OMSI) in 2012. Since then the museum has welcomed people who wanted to get a closer look at the city’s steam locomotives and, on some occasions, even ride behind them, like during the popular Holiday Express (which this year was led by Polson Lumber 2-8-2 2, on loan from the Albany & Eastern). But a wide open spot was left unfilled out in front of the museum until the funds were secured to install the Brooklyn turntable. Last year, concrete began to be poured and it looks as if the pit will be completed in the coming weeks. Then the turntable bridge will be installed over the spring and summer. The project should be complete by the end of the year. 

Pat Tracy, president of the Friends of SP 4449, which maintains the Daylight, said the turntable will give the group more storage and display space. He specifically said that two tracks off the table will be perfect for two of the diesels that call the museum home: Union Pacific SW10 96 and BNSF Railway SW1000 3613. However, the turntable will also help the two main line steam locomotives whenever they can get on the main line, Tracy said. 

For example, in 2017, when SP 4449 was used on a two-day excursion to Bend, Ore., it had to be turned on a wye in North Portland the day before, a move that required coordination from BNSF and UP. But with the turntable, the locomotive would be able to be turned to face the right direction before making the short trip over to Union Station. 

“The turntable is going to give us some new capabilities when it comes to displays and operations,” Tracy said. 

For more information and to learn how to donate, visit the Oregon Rail Heritage Center online.