Destination Mill City. Santa Maria Valley Locomotive #205 rumbles across the timber portion of the South Santiam River Trestle, heading compass east toward the Mill City Branch of the Albany & Eastern Railroad and her eventual destination, which is the city for which the branch is named. Timber trestles are not terribly common in the 21st Century, but this railroad seems to have quite a number of them. This one crosses over an RV park in downtown Lebanon, OR and is connected directly to a massive steel trestle just ahead, which spans the South Santiam River.
The Albany & Eastern Railroad recently acquired the newly-restored Santa Maria Valley #205, seen here, and is now operating passenger excursions on selected weekends, out of the former Southern Pacific depot right here in Lebanon. Within the next year, this locomotive is expected to be joined on the AERC by Polson Logging Co. #2, a beefy 2-8-2, which had been owned by the late Roland "Skip" Lichter.
A look at steam operations on Oregon's Albany & Eastern Railroad, headquartered in Lebanon, OR, and featuring Santa Maria Valley Railroad Locomotive #205.
