A recently reopened branch line in northeastern Oregon has ceased operations after being heavily damaged in a wildfire on July 15.

The Lower Dry Creek Fire burned more than 8,000 acres south of Milton-Freewater, Ore., destroying six homes and 40 other structures. The fire also burned five miles of Columbia Rail’s Weston Branch between Walla Walla, Wash., and Weston, Ore., damaging ties and destroying at least one bridge. Columbia Rail officials tell Railfan & Railroad that the branch will be closed “indefinitely,” but they hope to reopen it eventually.

After: The same scene three and a half months later, after the Lower Dry Creek Fire destroyed a small wooden trestle north of Weston, Ore. Photo Courtesy of the Oregon Department of Forestry. 

Built in the 1880s, the line between Walla Walla and Weston was once part of Union Pacific’s secondary route between Pendleton, Ore., and Spokane, Wash. Eventually, the line became a branch line that predominantly served the region’s agricultural industry, specifically a frozen-food producer in Weston. Since the 1990s, UP has leased it to a series of short-line operators. Due to insufficient traffic, the 15 miles south of Milton-Freewater were taken out of service in 2020. During that time, frozen produce from Lakeside Foods in Weston was trucked north to Milton-Freewater and loaded into reefers. In early 2026, at the urging of Lakeside Foods, Columbia Rail reopened the line all the way to Weston. The first loads departed Weston on March 26. Since then, hundreds of carloads have originated in Weston. With the south end of the line closed, frozen food is again being trucked to Milton-Freewater.

—Justin Franz