Gardiner to Gardiner Junction  -  LP&N

The Longview, Portland and Northern branch in Gardiner, Oregon was closed down 1999. But rather than being totally abandoned and permanently shut down, the line is actually in a moth ball state. The Gardiner Branch connected the International Paper Mill in Gardiner, Oregon, to the Southern Pacific (now Central Oregon and Pacific) mainline several miles away. When the mill closed down, so did the railroad. Although overgrown and empty, the mill and railroad structures and most of the equipment remain on the slim chance that International Paper Company might someday reopen the mill. Today, the railroad is quickly becoming overgrown, but the track, engine house, and two bridges that the cross the Umpqua River are completely intact and usable.

The Longview Portland and Northern was actually several separate railroads in completely separate locations owned by the International Paper Company. Each railroad served the International Paper Mills and transported goods to and from the mills to the nearest mainline. In 1922, the railroad was originally incorporated to open a line between Longview Junction and a mill in Ryderwood, Washington. That line was completed in 1929, but was abandoned in 1953, when the mill closed. Later the company operated a line between Rye and Chelatchie, Washington. In 1955, the Willamina - Grand Ronde, OR line was acquired from Spaulding-Miami Lumber Co. That line was sold in 1980. In 1960 the Rye Jct - Chelatchie, WA line was acquired from Northern Pacific. That line was sold in 1981.

The last line to be operated by the Longview Portland and Northern was the very short Gardiner branch that is discussed here. It was built in 1952 to connect the paper mill at Gardiner to the Southern Pacific Railroad (now Central Oregon and Pacific). From end to end the line was 3.7 miles long. The line was not just a simple laying of 4 miles of track over flat ground, however. Two bridges had to be built over the Umpqua River onto and then back off of Bolen Island. It's not clear why the railroad had to run onto Bolen Island when it could have easily been built around it and no bridges would have been required. I assume it serviced a mill or some kind of operation on the Island at one time. The line also served a saw mill, that was located just south of the International Paper mill. That mill was closed down sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s and was completely torn down. Today only an empty concrete lot and fence remain.

When the International Paper Mill was closed down in 1999, it was a different story. The mill, the office buildings and the entire Gardiner branch line remain mothballed, but not totally abandoned. Guarded 24 hours a day from vandalism and fire, there is hope, although slim, that it might someday reopen.

The locomotives of the LP&N and railcars are long gone. The last two to serve, # 111 and # 130 are gone now. # 111 was retired and probably scraped, although it's disposition is unknown. # 130 is now serving for Dow Chemicals in Taft, LA. If the line ever did reopen, new locomotives would need to be acquired from somewhere else.