Last Update: August 9, 2008 |
Molalla River Bridge Log Jam Removal |
History of the OPR - East Portland Branch - Molalla Branch - Videos of the OPR in Action News & Upcoming Events - Photos of Past Events - Roster of the OPR Oaks Pioneer Transportation Museum |
Copyright © 2004-2008 All Rights Reserved Webmaster Brian McCamish In Search of History Expeditions Active & Abandoned Railroads of the Northwest Webmaster |
History of the OPR - East Portland Branch - Molalla Branch - Videos of the OPR in Action News & Upcoming Events - Photos of Past Events - Roster of the OPR Oaks Pioneer Transportation Museum |
The winter provides many challenges for a railroad, especially when it comes to bridges and here's a great example of why. The Molalla River railroad bridge is the largest and longest bridge on the OPR. Unfortunately it's size helps to obstruct logs and snags that get caught in the river during major winter storms. This isn't always a problem, but the winter of 2007/2008 had it's share of floods, snags and downed trees that found their way into the rivers and later collected in front of the Molalla River Bridge. Because the river is considered navigable by the State of Oregon and for other reasons, these obstructions had to be removed. The crew of the OPR are jacks of all trades and do most of their own work and this project would be no different, being entirely handled by the Tim, Brian and Craig Samuels. All of these photos are courtesy of Tim Samuels, of the OPR. |
Log jam up against the Molalla River bridge, Tim Samuels photos |
Logs had to be yarded out, which meant someone had to climb down onto the jam and start wrapping cable and cutting up snags, Tim Samuels photos |
Making progress, Tim Samuels photos |
Hauling logs out, cutting them up and loading the good ones into the OPR hi-railer, Tim Samuels photos |
More progress, Tim Samuels photos |
Almost done, Tim Samuels photos |
The log jam now gone. Tim Samuels photos |