Sumpter Valley Railway (Images of Rail)

Sumpter Valley Railway (Images of Rail)

In July 1890, David Eccles and Charles Nibley chartered the Sumpter Valley Railway and changed the social and physical landscape of Eastern Oregon forever. The Sumpter Valley Railway and its parent company, the Oregon Lumber Company, became an economic engine that shaped the lives of generations of Eastern Oregonians. The rails stretched from Baker to Prairie City, Sumpter to Susanville, and laced ribbons of steel through the Powder River Valley and Elkhorns. This photographic history is a view into the life and times of a varied, interesting, and living railroad that was instrumental in the shaping of Eastern Oregon. Authors Alfred Mullett and Leonard Merritt are native Oregonians living in the Portland area. Mullett works for Oregon Health and Sciences University, as well as being a freelance writer. Merritt manages the model train department at Tammie's Hobbies; teaches model design, construction, and marketing at a local high school; and has marketed several Sumpter Valley Railway cars and locomotive prototypes. Photographs for this volume were drawn from the Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration Inc., the National Rail Historical Society's Portland archives, and the Baker City Library, as well as individual collections from Union, Baker, and Grant Counties and across the United States.