In the fall of 2011, celebratory wooden train whistles rang out as construction of Oregon Rail Heritage Center began. Then in September 2012, the building we know today opened its doors to visitors for the first time. Countless volunteer hours were dedicated to this massive project.
In its early days ORHF’s primary mission was to secure a permanent home for Portland’s historic steam locomotives. After location scouting, they secured the land ORHC sits on today. The museum is in the heart of Southeast Portland and is surrounded by rail lines. Looking west and you’ll see the Oregon Pacific Railroad short line, to the east you’ll see the mainline for Union Pacific trains, north is the Portland Streetcar and looking south you’ll see the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail. Some key initiators made significant contributions that were instrumental in making this project happen.
Meet the Initiators
Proudly displayed on the building is “Doyle McCormack’s Enginehouse”. Doyle moved to Portland in 1975 to head the restoration of the Southern Pacific 4449 as it geared up for the American Freedom Train run. Another familiar face who worked with the SP 4449 is Ed Immel. Ed is a well-versed traveler and has always had a passion for the locomotive community. He organized many of the SP 4449’s excursions over the years. Doyle and Ed, alongside other initiators, created the stable foundation that ORHF continues to build upon.
Many initiators still dedicate their time to ORHF. Phil Barney, Dale Birkholz, and David Cautley can often be found volunteering their time to projects within the building. Laurel Lyon, who was the ORHF president at the time the center began to take shape, organized other outside influencers to help make this project possible. Late Commissioner Nick Fish, project manager Kim Knox, contractor Kurt Bruun, and so many other people rallied around ORHF to make this project a success.
Working Toward Land Control
Before the Enginehouse was built, the three historic locomotives were housed temporarily in the Brookyln Roundhouse. While the Brookyln Roundhouse was full of character and allowed volunteers to continue their restoration work, it wasn’t an ideal location for the engines. The public didn’t have access to the locomotives and Union Pacific was going to eventually tear down the Roundhouse to expand their intermodal operations there. That’s when Laurel Lyon got involved.
“The most interesting thing is that my wife Laurel, got involved with the Brookyln Roundhouse before I did. Laurel’s personality and background were the perfect fit for the situation…I probably didn’t fully appreciate that at the time, but I do in retrospect.”
– Phil Barney, ORHF Volunteer
In 2018 Laurel succumbed to chronic illness, but her passion and dedication left an everlasting impact on the community. Laurel was constantly talking about ensuring that these historic locomotives were accessible to the public and preserved—so that’s exactly what ORHF aimed to do. Close friends of Laurel, such as Kim Knox who is a project manager for Shiels Obletz Johnsen, supported ORHF in securing ground control and a dependable revenue stream. ORHF needed a foundational reason why other entities would collaborate with them beyond being for a good cause. So Shiels focused on how they could obtain good land control.
One of the early challenges was establishing ORHF’s position as a viable player in Portland’s district and navigating the space with TriMet. Volunteers worked diligently to build up partnerships and collaborative relationships.
“It was a collaborative effort to convince people that this would be a good thing for the city of Portland. Late Commissioner Nick Fish went to the city council, and he beat the drum for us and got a unanimous vote of confidence.”
– Doyle McCormack, Engineer
Portland Parks & Recreation, with the instrumental support of Late Commissioner Nick Fish, focused on aiding in the financing, permitting and construction of the Center. The generosity and financial support from Portland Parks & Recreation, TriMet, donors like Gordon Zimmerman, and countless others propelled ORHF towards their goal.
“There are some big levers within the ORHF steam locomotive community, which isn’t typical of a capital campaign. They had these folks who were connected. It was a different kind of structure of campaign fundraising than anything else I’ve worked on.”
– Kim Knox, Project Manager, Shiels Obletz Johnsen
Construction Begins
With the location secured, volunteers and contractors began breaking ground. The next obstacle was how to navigate constructing the building on top of a sawdust pile left by a previous wood mill. The contracting team added hundreds of feet of steel support beams to keep the 400-ton locomotives from sinking. This added a fair amount of cost compared to the preliminary numbers ORHF was working with. Some volunteers advocated integrating some of the charm of the Brooklyn Roundhouse into the modern new center. The impressive wooden doors seemed like a great fit.
“[The original design] showed metal roll up doors for the building. They are similar to a garage door. But we saved the two doors off the north side of the Roundhouse.”
– Phil Barney, ORHF Volunteer
Phil restored the massive wooden doors at the building’s north end and created a replica pair for the south end. One of his favorite memories was placing this giant door on a small dolly and having volunteers lug it to the building.
Over time, the building slowly came together. Hundreds of yards of rebar covered the floor and mountains of materials were shipped to the construction site. One pivotal aspect of the design was incorporating a machine shop and a drop table for restoration work. It’s incredible that ORHF incorporated mechanical work into the public display of the museum.
“Those locomotives are like large history books. When you take it apart and you see how they did things, how they machined things, how they engineered things, it’s a rewarding experience to take all those parts off and interpret how they were made.”
– Dale Birkholz, ORHF Volunteer
“It’s the People, Not the Building”
The center we know today stands as testament to the initiators and volunteers’ generosity, teamwork, and passion. They have built more than just a safe structure for these treasured locomotives; they built a stronger and more connected community.
“While the building is beautiful and functional for its intended purpose of being a place of learning, community gathering and preservation of the historic locomotives, it’s the community connectedness created by the volunteers who contribute, the families who tour, and the tourists who visit that I am most proud to be a part of.”
– Todd Lofgren, Deputy Director, Vibrant Communities Service Area, City of Portland
We invite you to visit the center to pay recognition for the countless hours dedicated to this beloved community project.
“The fact that ORHF is still thriving after this many years and continues to grow is very exciting. It’s easy for something like that, with so many passions, to get spread too thin and fail. It’s the people, not the building.”
– Kim Knox, Project Manager, Shiels Obletz Johnsen