BOOK - "Clamshell Railroad" 1888 - 1930 - Long Beach Peninsula Washington G81

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THE RAILROAD THAT RAN BY THE TIDE: The Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company operated a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad that ran for over forty years from the bar of the Columbia River up the Long Beach Peninsula to Nahcotta, Washington, on Willapa Bay.The line ran entirely in Pacific County, Washington, and had no connection to any outside rail line. The railroad had a number of nicknames, including the "Clamshell Railroad" and the "Irregular, Rambling and Never-Get-There Railroad." The initial owners of the company were Lewis Alfred Loomis, Jacob Kamm, I.W. Case, H.S. Gile, and B. A. Seaborg. L.A. Loomis was a pioneer on the Long Beach Peninsula. He had formed the Ilwaco Wharf Company in July, 1874. In addition to Loomis, incorporators of the Ilwaco Wharf Company included Robert Carruthers, George Johnson, Abraham Wing, and Captain J.H.D. Gray. They sold shares and raised ,500 to build a pier and freighthouse on Baker's Bay at Ilwaco, near the mouth of the Columbia River. Later, on February 23, 1875, L.A. Loomis and some of the same incorporators of the Ilwaco Wharf Company incorporated the Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company, with the goal of buying a steamboat and running passengers and freight across the Columbia from Astoria to the Ilwaco wharf that they had built. They sold stock again, raised ,000 in working capital, and for ,000, bought the steamboat General Canby. Other steamboats making the run to Ilwaco in the days before the railroad was built include the U.S. Grant, the R.R. Thompson, and the General Miles. For a number of years the company struggled to make a profit, relying on government mail and troop transport contracts, which did not pay much. Eventually L.A. Loomis and some of his fellow entrepreneurs settled on the idea of building a railroad to replace the stage coach line that they had used to make the connection between Ilwaco and points on the Long Beach Peninsula. Loomis and others incorporated the Ilwaco, Shoalwater Bay & Grays Harbor Railroad on November 23, 1883. It was estimated that the railroad could be built for a cost of ,000 per mile. This meant that it would take about 0,000 to build the railroad. The company's founders raised the money through sale of stock, which took several years to reach a level of capital where construction could begin. The company could not locate a general contractor who would build the railroad for less than the company's total capitalization of 0,000, so the company decided to act as its own general contractor, and hire the Portland firm of Hawgood & Habersham as engineering consultants. The 3 ft (914 mm) gauge was selected to save money on grading and other construction. Also, smaller and less expensive engines and cars could be used. The rails themselves, as well as one of the first engines, came from the Utah & Northern Railway. Construction began in April, 1888, starting at Ilwaco. The corporation was reorganized at about the same time, so that the Ilwaco Steam Navigation Company became the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company (incorporated August 16, 1888). Grading the rest of the line continued through the rest of 1888. The line had reached Long Beach by July 19, 1888. The northern terminus had been originally planned to be at place called New Saratoga, one-half mile south of Oysterville. It turned out that a better steamboat landing was at Nahcotta, about 5 miles south of Oysterville, and so Nahcotta became the northern end of the line. By January 1889, grading was almost complete all the way to Nahcotta, however, the railroad had run out of money when the track only reached as far as Ocean Park. More funds were raised, and by May 1889, the railroad had been completed to Nahcotta, costing twice the originally estimated 0,000. The line was built with 35-pound-per-foot rail, which was too light for the equipment. Loomis as president was very frugal, especially on maintenance expenses. For example, even though there were several derailments caused by rotting cross-ties, Loomis refused to pay for any replacements unless he could punch a hole the tie with his walking stick. For all of these reasons, it took the train several hours to complete its run of only 15 miles. No trains ran on Sunday, at least in April 1905. Because of the extreme shallow water at the railroad's dock in Ilwaco restricted steamboat access to times when it was permitted by the tide, for so long as the railroad's southern terminus was at Ilwaco, the railroad's schedule was based on the tide charts. For example, a schedule for April, 1905, shows times of departure from Astoria for the steamer Nahcotta as varying from as early as 5:00 a.m. to as late as 8:30 a.m. The line made connections with steamboats at both ends. At Ilwaco, steamboats meeting the trains included, at various times, the Ilwaco, Suomi, General Canby, Nahcotta, and the Ocean Wave. From 1894 to 1896, the company also put the naptha launch Iris on the Astoria-Ilwaco run. In 1898, the railroad commissioned the twin-propeller steamer Nahcotta, built in Portland, Oregon in 1898 and after resolving some engine troubles, placed her on the Astoria-Ilwaco run. After the line was acquired by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company in 1900, the company put the T. J. Potter on the route from Portland direct to Ilwaco to bring more vacationers to the Long Beach Peninsula. The new company also made improvements to line's trackage, which presumably resulted in the improvement of service so that it only took an hour to complete the train's journey from Ilwaco to Nahcotta. Presumably things had improved by 1905, when the railroad claimed to be able to make the run in just an hour from south to north. At Nahcotta the propeller steamers Shamrock and Reliable would met the train at the end of the Nahcotta dock, and pick up passengers bound for South Bend across Willapa Bay. Stops on the line in 1896 in order from south to north were Ilwaco, Holman Station, Seaview, Long Beach, Tioga, Breakers Station, Pacific Park, Cranberry Station, Oceanside, Loomis, Ocean Park, and Nahcotta. Ilwaco: The railroad ran south down First Street in Ilwaco, and then out onto to a dock in Baker's Bay. Floating logs were stored behind log booms on the west side of the Ilwaco dock. Holman Station: A water tank was located at Holman Station, which was also known as the Willows. Black Lake: The railroad kept a cranberry warehouse at Black Lake, a little north of Ilwaco. Feagans states that this warehouse was built about March 1915, the same time that the second Nahcotta depot was built to replace the one that had been destroyed by fire in January of that year. Black Lake itself was sometimes called Johnson Lake or Whealdon's Pond. B.A. Seaborg, one of the founders of the Ilwaco railroad, had a sawmill on the lake, where he cut boards to make crates to pack the salmon he canned at his plant (called "Aberdeen Packing Company") on Main Street in Ilwaco. Seaview: There was only a platform and shed at Seaview until 1905 when a regular depot was built. That depot building still exists, and is now a restaurant. Long Beach: The railroad's major destination was Long Beach, an early tourist trap, and location of a number of popular hotels, including the Tinker's Hotel and the Hotel Portland. Breakers Station: The stop at the Breakers Hotel north of Long Beach was called "Breakers Station." There had been two hotels at this location, both built by Joseph M. Arthur, and both named the Breakers Hotel. The first Breakers Hotel, built in 1901, burned down in 1904. The second one was built just behind a sand dune, and the rail line ran between the hotel and the trees in the background. A promotional postcard for the second Breakers Hotel advertised it as the "social center of the summer season," with the "best ladies' orchestra," a "large dancing pavilion," and "practically fire-proof." Guests were encouraged to "buy your ticket and check your baggage at any O.R.& N Co. Ticket Office direct to Breakers Station". Cranberry Station: Cranberry Station was the next stop north of The Breakers. Little is known about this stop, other than it presumably had something to do with cranberries. Loomis Station: Loomis Station consisted of simply the mansion of Lewis A. Loomis, the founder and president of the line. The station was on the east side of the line. L.A. Loomis died in 1913, his mansion fell into disrepair, and the railroad ceased making stops at Loomis. Oceanside: Oceanside is reported to have been an unscheduled stop from 1908 to 1930. Klipsan Beach Life Saving Station: The railroad also took the crew of the Klipsan Beach Life Saving Station to wherever a vessel might have stranded on the beach along the line. Occasional special runs were made to bring on-lookers to a wreck site, and weekly excursions were made to take vacationers to watch the lifeboat rescue drills at the Klipsan Beach Station. Ocean Park: Ocean Park had been founded by Methodists as an alcohol-free summer community. It was much closer to the beach than it is today, because of sand accretion. The depot at Ocean Park was located on the east side of the tracks immediately to the north of a road crossing. There were several businesses in the area. The railroad transported boxes of canned razor clams from canneries at Ocean Park. The railroad also built a siding in Ocean Park for the Ilwaco Mill & Lumber Company. Nahcotta: The railroad built a long dock out into deep water in Willapa Bay at Nahcotta. Willapa Bay was the location of a major oyster fishery, and transporting the harvested oysters south to Ilwaco, and eventually Portland, became a significant business of the railroad. The first Nahcotta depot was located just south of the tracks. The lading extended northwards from a freight door a few feet towards the track, which at that point had a stub switch. The railroad had a three-stall roundhouse, water tank, and a gallows turntable at Nahcotta. Businesses in Nahcotta included the Bayview (formerly the Morrison) Hotel, built in 1889, and the Nahcotta Hotel, and Morehead's general store. Most of Nahcotta's business district burned down on January 27, 1915, and was never rebuilt, a total insurance loss of ,500. The railroad ran a train of volunteers to Nahcotta to fight the fire. Structures lost included the first Nahcotta depot, valued at ,500 for insurance purposes. The railroad's car sheds survived, as did the cars inside. In August, 1900, Loomis sold his stock to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, which assumed total control over the railroad, which had then total assets in rolling stock, track, and real property valued at 8,000. The new owners made a number of improvements to the track and rolling stock of the railroad. Trains now ran faster and on time. The dock and railroad facilities at Nahcotta were improved. Two important safety items, air brakes and Janney couplers, were adopted in 1903. The railroad also got into the business of hauling logs from Nahcotta down to Ilwaco. The company acquired the steam tug Flora Bell to round up log tows on Willapa Bay and bring them to Nahcotta to be loaded onto trains bound for Ilwaco. For a number of years there had been a plan by various persons and companies to build a standard gauge railroad all along the north bank of the Columbia from the ocean at Ilwaco to Wallula Gap near the junction of the Snake and the Columbia rivers. The first leg of this work was to be a railroad built along the north shore of the Columbia river from Ilwaco to Knappton, a small settlement 17 miles to the east. The work was contracted out by the Columbia Valley Railroad, but it was supervised by the chief engineer of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. After various legal and survey matters settled the route (which actually ran inland from the Columbia shore), construction began in 1907 and was finally completed, following many legal and financial difficulties, in June, 1908, with a terminus at Megler. The railroad never quite made it to Knappton, which was about one and a half miles further east. The most notable engineering feature of the extension was a tunnel, the only one on the line, blasted through the rock at Scarborough Head. This was right under an army coast defense facility known as Fort Columbia. A large dock, supposedly the largest on the Columbia was built at Megler. The tunnel was 910 feet long and the dock was reported to measure 120 feet by 900 feet in area. Entire trains would run out on the Megler dock to large depot to meet steamboats arriving from Portland or Astoria. Because the water was deep enough all the time at the Megler dock, the railroad was finally able to run independently of the tide. In 1903, T.J. Potter made daily trips, departing from the Ash Street dock in Portland at 8:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, no run on Sundays). At this time, the Willapa Transportation Company was running both of their steamboats, the Reliable and the Shamrock, on the run from South Bend to the Long Beach Peninsula, so that it was now possible to travel from South Bend by steamboat to Nahcotta, board the train and ride down to Megler, transfer to the T. J. Potter, and travel on the T. J. Potter upriver to Portland. The fare for this was .25 one-way and .25 round trip. The only alternative route required transfer to the Nahcotta, going south across the Columbia River to Astoria, and then boarding a train bound for Portland on the Astoria and Columbia Railroad. Since the rail trip from Astoria took as long to get to Portland as it took for the T. J. Potter to steam upriver, the alternative route was not favored. A traveller from Portland would board the train right on the dock at Megler. The train then proceeded almost due west for about 1/2 mile around Point Ellice, where, after 1921, Captain Elving's ferries would dock. Next, for about a mile, the railroad ran along flat bench next to the river until it reached McGowan, where the McGowan family had built a large dock and a cannery. A passing track was built at McGowan. The railroad then entered the tunnel under Fort Columbia. Just on the west end of tunnel was the small depot for the fort's needs. A long pier extended into the river from Fort Columbia. The next stop on the line was Chinook, where the railway ran through the streets of the small town. By 1927, an auto road had been built from Megler to Chinook and then to Ilwaco. This roadway ran parallel to the railway up to Chinook, where the railway then went inland somewhat to cross the Wallicut river. Subsequent stops on the line's extension were Ellis, Wallicut, and a stop called China, after the large number of Chinese cannery workers who lived there. The summer of 1913 was the absolute peak for the railroad. The weather was good, a competitor resort had been destroyed by fire, and jetty projects at the mouth of the Columbia River required hauling passengers and freight. New facilities were built at Nahcotta and improvements were made to the station and trackage in Ilwaco. At this time, there were few automobiles on the Long Beach Peninsula. The railroad charged to transport an automobile from Portland to Ilwaco. After 1913, business fell off for the railroad, and would never come back to that peak. Even so, the owners continued to make some investments in the line, such as completing the relaying of the line with 56-pound rails all the way up to Nahcotta. A paved highway was completed from Portland to Astoria which caused river passenger traffic to fall off. The T. J. Potter was condemned at the start of the 1916 season and not replaced, which cut off direct water access to the Long Beach Peninsula from Portland (the source of most of the tourist business) to the railroad's dock at Megler. The railroad still ran the steamers Harvest Queen and Nahcotta down the Columbia until 1921, but apparently only on the Portland-Astoria run. This left only the previously-thought inferior route of taking a train from Portland to Astoria and then a steamboat (usually the Nahcotta) to the Megler dock. However, by 1920, the real competitor for the railroad had become the automobile. A paved highway on the south bank of the Columbia was completed in 1916, running from Portland to Astoria. On May 1, 1921, regular automobile ferry service was initiated from Astoria to a dock at McGowan, west of railroad's dock at Megler and closer to the Long Beach Peninsula. Now people could drive their automobiles all the way to Astoria and onto a ferry to take them over to the Long Beach Peninsula, without the need of either railroad or steamboat.