Tuesday, May 28, 2024 The Oregon Rail Heritage Center (OHRC) as on most Saturdays, was open and welcoming visitors on May 11th, just east of OMSI in Inner Southeast. But, in addition to seeing the mighty locomotives inside the OHRC, and watching the SPS 700 locomotive rotate on the turntable, that particular day was also a celebration of National Train Day. “It’s a ‘holiday’ started by Amtrak in 2008, as a way of spreading information about the advantages of railway travel, and the history of trains in the United States,” explained Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF) Administrative Director Renée Devereux.
“We continue to hold it every year on the Saturday closest to May 10th, the anniversary of the pounding-in of the Golden spike in Promontory, Utah, which marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States,” Devereux told a media. ORHF is the nonprofit that operates the center; Devereux pointed out, “it’s an opportunity for us to celebrate what we do right here, in inner Southeast Portland . That includes the restoration, maintenance, and operation of these giant historic steam locomotives.
“And, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get people on a train for a ride – especially on a perfect day like today!” Outside the ORHC, the horn of the “Great Northern” 3613 diesel-electric locomotive was sounded – it joined their collection in 2022 – signaling another excursion south from their center near OMSI throughout .
