Photos by Gannett News Service
The Mount Hood Railroad excursion train inches up a snowy grade as it nears Parkdale, Ore.

A conductor helps passengers board the Mount Hood Railroad excursion train at the Hood River depot.

All aboard Mount Hood's 'Backwards Railroad'

RON COWAN, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

HOOD RIVER, Ore. -- The Mount Hood Railroad is not the sleek, fast face of rail travel.

The train cars, all past their prime, rock and roll down the tracks, pitching pedestrians walking down the aisles from side to side, amid the cacophony of rattles, clangs and clunks of the train's moving parts.

But that's why people love this antique tourist attraction, along with the sight of forests, orchards, creeks and Hood River and, of course, white-clad Mount Hood soaring majestically in the near distance.

"That's kind of one of the charms of an old railroad," said Philip Alan Berchtold, who was enjoying the jerking but atmospheric ride.

"It's one of my first times on a train like this."

Berchtold and his wife, Ida, one-time Salem, Ore., residents who now live in Lawton, Okla., were taking the excursion train on a 44-mile round trip from Hood River to Parkdale on a recent Sunday. They divided their time between a passenger car and the cupola of the red caboose, all dating from 1910-20.

"We've had people from Europe, a lot of Midwest people," said conductor Ron Walker, a third generation railroad man who once worked as a telegrapher.

"A lot of people from the Midwest haven't seen a mountain like this one."

Keith Eblin from Chillicothe, Ohio, had taken the train to get near Mount Hood after deciding against driving snowy U.S. Highway 26 to Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge.

"Oregon is the most beautiful place I've ever been," he said, peering out the caboose at the snow-lined Hood River.

"It's an awesome experience. I haven't been on a train since I was a little kid. It's something I've been wanting to do for 30 years."

The railroad, which carries freight on weekdays, turns to excursions on weekends, including popular dinner and lunch trains and such special trains as Halloween, Circus and Christmas tree runs.

Founded in 1906, the railroad was built to carry fruit and forest products from the Hood River Valley.

Although the forest products have evaporated and many of the timber communities along the route are little more than nostalgic names, the privately held railroad has found a new career in tourism.

Since 1988, the train has carried passengers through the Hood River Valley, from the Columbia Gorge community of Hood River, famed for its summertime windsurfing, to Parkdale, a small agricultural crossroads within the shadow of Mount Hood.

Annual tourist traffic is about 55,000 riders, drawing visitors to the thousands of acres of blossoming fruit trees in the spring, the lush foliage and ripening fruit of the summer, the fall bustle of harvest time with the ripening colors of autumn and finally, the soft blanket of white that enfolds the orchards, forests and towns in the winter.

"Passengers are our primary revenue," said Michelle Marquart, general manager of the railroad.

"It's been growing steadily every year. It's selling out more and more in advance."

Saved from shutdown

The railroad faced closure in 1996 when floods washed out a half-mile of tracks along the Hood River, but the owners came up with $500,000 to repair the railway and keep the historic trains running, Walker said.

Both the white stucco, Craftsman-style 1911 depot in Hood River and the tracks the railroad traverses are designated National Historic Sites.

The brunch/dinner train, with cars dating from the 1940s, serves four-course meals and includes a windowed lounge car.

The excursion train includes an open-air observation car, two enclosed Pullman cars and an antique concession car with wooden tables and chairs.

Because food is being prepared and served, the dinner and brunch trains move at a leisurely 14 to 15 mph. The excursion train runs 18 to 20 mph.

Throughout the trip, on either train, a narrator fills in the local history and key sights along the route, including the fact that Bartlett and Anjou pears have taken over local agriculture.

Although seats are assigned, visitors are welcome to wander the train, taking in views from the two cupolas in the little red caboose or the observation car, which offers a brisk experience in the winter.

The train chugs out of Hood River, pulled by a 750-horsepower diesel engine for about three miles along the Hood River, where osprey, ducks and other wildlife abound.

A large pipeline from Copper Dam runs along the line.

Before leaving the river, the train comes to a rare switchback, where the engine that has been pushing the train starts pulling it uphill. There are only five such switchbacks in the United States, and this one has given this railroad the nickname "The Backwards Railroad."

Later, at the end of the line in Parkdale, the engine switches back to the other end of train, pulling the train back downhill to Hood River.

Just after the switchback, passengers can see Mount Adams in Washington and Mount Hood in Oregon before the train crosses over Oregon Highway 35.

After leaving the river, the train heads up through orchards, past Pine Grove with its big fruit-packing plant and the site of the first sawmill in the Hood River Valley.

The train passes by cold storage plants and loading docks on its journey, giving evidence of the importance of the fruit industry.

Most of what the passengers see are orchards, clambering over hillsides and sprawling over flat areas, along with wooded patches, occasionally glistening with melting snow, and the yards of houses, many with horses in nearby pastures.

Hawks, ruffled grouse and beaver are sometimes visible from the train as it passes through Odell to Dee, eventually crossing into Duke's Valley, prime agricultural land.

At Dee, passengers are asked to imagine a lively town that existed here for 50 years, into the late 1950s.

Dee boasted a two-story hotel, a company office, a post office, beer hall and fruit-packing house.

Arriving in Parkdale, with Mount Hood looming overhead, visitors can stretch their legs on a 700-foot-long raised wooden walkway during a stopover that lasts one hour, long enough for lunch.

Passengers can have lunch at the Rails End Cafe & Gift Shop, run by the railroad, or the Elliott Glacier Public House, a restaurant and brewpub.

The nearby Hutson Museum offers local history, and the 1900 Ries-Thompson House, the first residence in Parkdale, is open part of the year as a tea house.

Pete Morris of Portland, posing for a photo in front of the train engine with daughter, Maddy, 1, has ridden trains in England, Europe and New Zealand, including a narrow gauge train in Wales.

"We're here for the scenery, as much as anything," he said.

"We like it; we love it," said Dale Kentner of Dundee, riding the train with sons Tyler, 5, and Nathan, 3. "You don't get this in any other train."

Mount Hood Railroad:

- What: 44-mile round trip excursion ride from Hood River, Ore., to Parkdale, Ore., on a vintage train. All cars date from 1910-20.

- When: Wednesday through Sunday, April through October, then on weekends through Dec. 16. Excursion trains depart at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Sunday brunch trains leave at 11:55 a.m. and Friday dinner trains (starting in July) leave at 6:30 p.m.

- Where: 110 Railroad Ave., Hood River, Ore.

- Cost: $14.95 to $75.

- Call: (541) 386-3556 or (800) 872-4661.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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