History of the Railroad
The railroad arrived in Union County in July of 1884. This was the main line through LaGrande and the branch line to Elgin was completed in December of 1890. In January of 1891 the first passenger train arrived in Elgin. It took another sixteen years before the railroad entered Wallowa County. It was in 1907 when the first train crossed a temporary bridge over the Grande Ronde River.
There were many hindrances to the completion of the railroad. Many cattlemen met the idea of the railroad with hostility. It would cut into their ranges and cause them to have to build more fences and it would bring a lot more homesteaders, which it did. There was even an injunction and restraining order placed on one land owner who was interfering with the laying of track on railroad right of way which went across his land.
However, the railroad progressed and track was laid through the Minam Canyon. The first train to cross the bridge where the Minam and Wallowa Rivers merge was in September 1908. The railroad had a series of wires with which to run trains on the branch. In addition to the railroad wires, Western Union wires were also strung to establish telegraphic communications with the outside world.
In September 1908, the first passenger train to travel from La Grande to Wallowa, Oregon carried over twelve hundred people on 15 excursion cars. They were met by a crowd of local people even larger than the ridership of the train and bands played and speeches were made and a basket lunch was eaten before the train carried its passengers back to La Grande.
The tracks continued to be laid from Wallowa toward Enterprise at about a mile and a half per day. The track reached Lostine in October 1908. Depots were being constructed as fast as humanly possible. The tracks reached Enterprise sometime in early November 1908 and Joseph in mid-November. The first passenger train arrived in Joseph on November 21, 1908.
The train opened up the Wallowa area for livestock shipping, mail carrying and passenger services. A mail contract was issued to the railroad in February 1909 and the train carried a mail clerk all the way to Joseph until 1938. Beginning in August 1909 the railroad ran freight trains 7 days a week with new lower freight rates which applied a class rating and removed the double back charge from Portland. Beginning in December 1912 an exclusive passenger train made round trips from the lower part of Wallowa County from La Grande every day. A freight train made the round trip every two days.
In 1912 Rocky Mountain elk were transported from Wyoming to Billy Meadows in Wallowa County via the train to re-establish the area's depleted elk herds. These animals are responsible for many of the elk that we see today. Hunting was not allowed until a good-sized herd was established.
After the automobile became popular, the passenger service began to decline. In 1924 only one passenger car remained. Most of the products such as wool and wheat were shipped in boxcars. Logs and lumber were shipped on flatcars. Coal was shipped into the county in open hoppers, appliances and other merchandise were shipped in tank cars.
The first trains were powered by steam. They burned coal to heat the water that made the steam, that powered the engine. In 1924 the engine switched to oil. In 1928 the steam engine locomotive was replaced with a gas and electric motor in the train's locomotive. The new engine provided greater efficiency and smoothness of operation. Diesel/electric started to replace these engines in the early 1950's.
The railroad lost the mail contract February 1947. The mail was then brought in by truck. This was done because of the unpredictable arrival time of the train.
The railroad closed all of its depots in the late 1960's and early 1970's. In 1993 the railroad was sold to a Texas Company and was named the Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad and was a subsidiary of Rio Grande Pacific of Forth Worth, Texas. The 84-mile Oregon branch line runs from La Grande to Joseph. Union Pacific will lease the La Grande to Elgin section of the line to Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad.
Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad decided to close the branch from Elgin to Joseph during the 1990s. Lots of proposals were put forth regarding the future of the railroad from total abandonment to tearing out the rails and making trails where the tracks once were. Not wanting to see the important transportation infrastructure lost, Wallowa and Union Counties began putting together a proposal to purchase the 63 miles of abandoned railroad line from Elgin to Joseph. The first train whistle was heard in Wallowa County on August 3, 2002. The first run of the Eagle Cap Excursion Train was made as a fund raising event organized by the 2003 Leadership Wallowa County group on May 17, 2003 with 144 paying passengers. Special excursions followed in fall of 2003, with the first full season of the Eagle Cap Excurion Train trips launched in May, 2004.
This information has been extracted from the book, "Gateway to the Wallowas" written by Irene Barklow, with her permission.
For more information about the history of the train go to: Eagle Cap Excursion Train - FOJB and WURA