Oregon Trunk Railroad Trestle
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 44° 03.017 W 121° 19.306
10T E 634437 N 4878826
This sign is located in Clyde McKay Park.
Waymark Code: WMP5Q
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/02/2006
Views: 26
Sign is located near the river in Clyde McKay Park.
Marker Name: Oregon Trunk Railroad Trestle
Marker Text: The trestle was the connection from the mill to the market.
The Oregon Trunk Railroad Trestle was constructed over the Deschutes River, at today’s McKay Park, under an agreement with Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company. It was completed in just 60 short days in the summer of 1915. The firm of Nettleton, Bruce & Eschbach Engineers of Seattle hired about 40 local men at $1.40 per day to complete the trestle.
At its highest point, the trestle was 35 feet above the river, the height of a three story building. The trestle cost about $25,000 to build and was 880 feet long from bank to bank (almost three football fields). The first piece of equipment to pass over the trestle was a 40-ton crane used to construct the lumber mill.
The trestle linked the mill to the Great Northern Railroad, enabling wood products to be shipped to markets all over the United States. One-third of the highly prized ponderosa pine lumber was shipped to the river mills along the Mississippi River where it was made into doors and windows. Finished clear lumber went all the way to the east coast for furniture.
In 1950, when the Shevlin-Hixon Company shut its doors forever, use of the trestle decreased dramatically and in 1990 it was slated for demolition. Over 500 people signed a petition in an attempt to save the structure. Yet, despite efforts to preserve the trestle it was demolished in 1991.
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