The Great Salmonberry Canyon Train Wreck of 1935 By Bill Minshall While collecting information for the Society’s book, Guide to Historical Markers of Tillamook County, lone Downey and I turned up a host of interesting and unusual stories about Tillamook places and people. After the book was published, several previously unknown (to us) markers came to light. In the summer of 2005, I was contacted by Mr. Owen Nicholson of Manzanita who told me about a marker that had been placed along the rail line through Salmonberry Canyon, and asked me if I would like to ride to the site with him and his wife, Ann, on their speeder (a motorized railroad maintenance vehicle) so I could view and photograph the marker. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity, and we made the trip on the 5‘h of August. The story of events that happened at this site are most interesting and would make a fascinating addition to the book, except for the fact that the site is so difficult to access, either somehow by rail, or by a long walk. All of the other markers included in the book are easily accessible over the roads and highways of the County. On October12, 1935, W. J. Patterson, Director of the Bureau of Safety, submitted a report of an accident to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The opening paragraph reads, “On August 6, 1935, there was a derailment of a mixed train on the line of the Southern Pacific Company near Cochrane, Oregon, which resulted in the death of five employees and injury of three employees.” The “derailment” happened on.a trestle which carried the track over Little Baldwin Creek, about one mile west of tunnel No. 26 and about three miles ‘West of Cochran. Anyone who has ridden this rail line through Salmonberry Canyon remembers well the many tunnels and trestles along the route. Many of the trestles not only rise high above the canyons below, but also they curve and descend (or rise) at considerable rates, making them very complex structures. Trestle No. 802-K over Little Baldwin Creek was 1,471 feet long with a curving grade of 2.7%. It spanned a precipitous canyon about a hundred feet deep. Vertical wooden supports rested on concrete piers, and was fastened at either end to concrete abutments. Trestles are complex structures ofien constructed in tiers, or stories, with bracing required to strengthen the structure against forces from many directions. In 1931, the upper part of the structure was destroyed by fire. The entire deck of the trestle and the upper stories of ten bents (the transverse framework designed to carry lateral as well as vertical loads) were rebuilt. Some of the damaged timbers were deemed reusable and left in place. Trestles undergo periodic inspections and are repaired as needed. Trestle 802-K had been undergoing some required repair work in the days prior to the accident. Just the day before, a new bent had been constructed and put into position. On the morning of the accident, Bridge Carpenter Heur was replacing some bracing timbers. He stated he saw “nothing unusual” about the trestle just before the accident. As the mixed train approached, he walked a short distance away to be safe in case tools were dropped while the train was passing over the trestle. Sitting right beside the trestle, Heur heard the bridge timbers begin to crack, and observed one of the bents (sections) raise up about three inches above its pier and start to tip toward him. The ICC report concluded that, “this accident was caused by collapse of a timber trestle beneath a mixed train, probably resulting from removal of essential braces while the structure was undergoing repairs.” On that fateful August morning, at 10:38, the west bound mixed train, No. 687, consisting of 35 freight cars, one passenger coach just ahead of the caboose, and a helper engine , OCR Text: The Great Salmonberry Canyon Train Wreck of 1935 By Bill Minshall While collecting information for the Society’s book, Guide to Historical Markers of Tillamook County, lone Downey and I turned up a host of interesting and unusual stories about Tillamook places and people. After the book was published, several previously unknown (to us) markers came to light. In the summer of 2005, I was contacted by Mr. Owen Nicholson of Manzanita who told me about a marker that had been placed along the rail line through Salmonberry Canyon, and asked me if I would like to ride to the site with him and his wife, Ann, on their speeder (a motorized railroad maintenance vehicle) so I could view and photograph the marker. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity, and we made the trip on the 5‘h of August. The story of events that happened at this site are most interesting and would make a fascinating addition to the book, except for the fact that the site is so difficult to access, either somehow by rail, or by a long walk. All of the other markers included in the book are easily accessible over the roads and highways of the County. On October12, 1935, W. J. Patterson, Director of the Bureau of Safety, submitted a report of an accident to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The opening paragraph reads, “On August 6, 1935, there was a derailment of a mixed train on the line of the Southern Pacific Company near Cochrane, Oregon, which resulted in the death of five employees and injury of three employees.” The “derailment” happened on.a trestle which carried the track over Little Baldwin Creek, about one mile west of tunnel No. 26 and about three miles ‘West of Cochran. Anyone who has ridden this rail line through Salmonberry Canyon remembers well the many tunnels and trestles along the route. Many of the trestles not only rise high above the canyons below, but also they curve and descend (or rise) at considerable rates, making them very complex structures. Trestle No. 802-K over Little Baldwin Creek was 1,471 feet long with a curving grade of 2.7%. It spanned a precipitous canyon about a hundred feet deep. Vertical wooden supports rested on concrete piers, and was fastened at either end to concrete abutments. Trestles are complex structures ofien constructed in tiers, or stories, with bracing required to strengthen the structure against forces from many directions. In 1931, the upper part of the structure was destroyed by fire. The entire deck of the trestle and the upper stories of ten bents (the transverse framework designed to carry lateral as well as vertical loads) were rebuilt. Some of the damaged timbers were deemed reusable and left in place. Trestles undergo periodic inspections and are repaired as needed. Trestle 802-K had been undergoing some required repair work in the days prior to the accident. Just the day before, a new bent had been constructed and put into position. On the morning of the accident, Bridge Carpenter Heur was replacing some bracing timbers. He stated he saw “nothing unusual” about the trestle just before the accident. As the mixed train approached, he walked a short distance away to be safe in case tools were dropped while the train was passing over the trestle. Sitting right beside the trestle, Heur heard the bridge timbers begin to crack, and observed one of the bents (sections) raise up about three inches above its pier and start to tip toward him. The ICC report concluded that, “this accident was caused by collapse of a timber trestle beneath a mixed train, probably resulting from removal of essential braces while the structure was undergoing repairs.” On that fateful August morning, at 10:38, the west bound mixed train, No. 687, consisting of 35 freight cars, one passenger coach just ahead of the caboose, and a helper engine , Nehalem Valley Historical Society,Under Construction,August 2023 Shipment Scans,Mark Beach Folder (NVHS),The Great Salmonberry Canyon Train Wreck article by Bill Minshall memorial plaque for A. Fred Walker and 6 others Aug 6 1935,P01 (13).tif, P01 (13).tif