North Coast Railway (1905-1906)
North Coast Railroad (1906-1910)

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This page was last updated on January 23, 2013.

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Timeline

September 28, 1905
The North Coast Railway was incorporated in Washington. (OWRR&N Corporate History, sheet 30)

Construction started on line north from Wallula on ORR&N to Yakima, Washington (98 miles)

January-February 1906
On a date between January 25, 1906 and February 7, 1906, the North Coast Railway was sold to Union Pacific interests.

April 14, 1906
North Coast Railroad was incorporated in Washington. (OWRR&N Corporate History, sheet 29)

October 11, 1906
The property and interests of the North Coast Railway were taken over by the North Coast Railroad, a new corporation organized on April 14, 1906. (OWRR&N Corporate History, sheet 29)

North Coast Railway, as a corporation was dissolved on August 23, 1909 for failure to pay annual license fee.

October 1906
Grading was completed to Yakima, except for a short section known as Union Gap, south of Yakima that Northern Pacific had already built on when it completed its line to Tacoma in 1887.

January 20, 1908
Surveys and rights of way of Spokane-Columbia River Railroad and Navigation Company acquired by North Coast Railroad by deed on January 20, 1908.

Spokane-Columbia River Railroad and Navigation Company was incorporated on June 12, 1905 in Washington; purchased rights of Eastern Washington Railroad on June 21, 1905; no work completed except for grading of 55 miles between Berry City and Ringold; sold to Robert E. Strahorn on March 29, 1906, then to North Coast Railroad, as noted above.

February 1908
NP was forced by court action to share the right of way through Union Gap, south of Yakima

October 1909
Rails were laid on part of the line by October 1909 after it was controlled by ORR&N

July 8, 1910
Surveys and rights of way of North Coast Railway acquired by Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company on July 8, 1910.

December 23, 1910
North Coast Railroad was part of the consolidation, along with 15 other railroads in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, that formed the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company

March 24, 1911
Operation formally began of former NCRR between Kennwick (near Pasco) and Yakima (97.3 miles), paralleling NP between Pasco and Yakima. The line became OWRR&N's Yakima Branch.

September 15, 1914
Operation formally began of former NCRR between Ayer Junction (54.5 miles northeast of Wallula) and Spokane (97.8 miles)

From Union Pacific's track profile book, dated January 1, 1976:

North Coast Railroad and OWRR&N are shown as having constructed the trackage from Villard Junction (about seven miles north of Wallula), northwest to Yakima (97.3 miles), in 1909-1911, with operations starting on March 24, 1911.

North Coast Railroad and OWRR&N are shown as having constructed the trackage from Ayer Junction (about 54.5 miles northeast of Wallula), northeast to Spokane (97.8 miles) in 1910-1914, with operations starting on September 15, 1914.

Passenger and Caboose

North Coast Railroad owned two wooden coaches that were steel sheathed, numbered as NCRR 100, 102; renumbered to OWRR&N 200, 201; retired by the time of the 1915 renumbering. (ORER, July 1911 and August 1915)

North Coast Railroad owned two cabooses, numbered as NCRR 50 and 51; renumbered to OWR&N 3595 and 3596 in 1915-1916.

Locomotives

NC 2-8-0 -- 2 locomotives

NC
Number		 Builder Builder
Number		 Date
Built		 1911 OWRR&N
Number		 1915 OWRR&N
Number		 Notes
NC 1 Schenectady 43294 Sep 1909 OWRR&N 325 OWRR&N 705 1
NC 2 Schenectady 43295 Sep 1909 OWRR&N 326 OWRR&N 706 2

Description:

  • Drive Wheel Diameter: 51 inches
  • Cylinders: 20x26 inches

Notes:

  1. Built as North Coast Railroad number 1 in 1909; to OWRR&N 325 in 1911; to OWRR&N 705 in 1915; vacated in 1947
  2. Built as North Coast Railroad number 2 in 1909; to OWRR&N 326 in 1911; to OWRR&N 706 in 1915; vacated in 1940

 

NC 4-4-0 -- 1 locomotive

NC
Number		 First
Number		 Second
Number		 Builder Builder
Number		 Date
Built		 1911 OWRR&N
Number		 1915 OWRR&N
Number		 Notes
NC 3 UPRy 693 UP 693 (1st) New York 368 Jun 1888 OWRR&N 78 OWRR&N 1122 1

Description:

  • Drive Wheel Diameter: 62 inches
  • Cylinders: 18x26 inches

Notes:

  1. NCRR 3 was built as UPRy 693 in 1888; to UP 693 (1st) in 1898; to North Coast Railroad 3 in 1910; to OWRR&N 78 in 1911; to UP 1122 in 1915

 

NC 4-4-0 -- 1 locomotive

NC
Number		 First
Number		 Second
Number		 Builder Builder
Number		 Date
Built		 1911 OWRR&N
Number		 1915 OWRR&N
Number		 Notes
NC 4 UPRy 679 UP 679 Pittsburgh 1024 Jan 1889 OWRR&N 79 OWRR&N 1123 1

Description:

  • Drive Wheel Diameter: 63 inches (later 62 inches)
  • Cylinders: 18x26 inches

Notes:

  1. NC 4 was built as UPRy 679 in 1889; to UP 679 in 1898; to North Coast Railroad 4 in 1910; to OWRR&N 79 in 1911; to UP 1123 in 1915; vacated in 1925

More Information

Union Pacific Northwest by Jeff Asay, page 120-124

Union Pacific Steam, Northwestern District by Ehernberger and Gschwind, page 83

"Robert Strahorn: The Spokane Sphnix and the Union Pacific's Secret Railroad" in The Streamliner, Volume 26, Number 4, Fall 2012

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