Qualla: Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad: Introduction

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. The whistle carries farther than you would expect, bouncing off the surface of Tillamook Bay and rolling into the coast range timber before fading. Somewhere between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach, a steam locomotive older than most of the trees along the right-of-way pulls a string of vintage coaches past oyster beds and mudflats, the tracks running so close to the water that spray from a high tide can salt the windows. The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad is a heritage operation, a nonprofit that runs excursion trains on 46 miles of former Southern Pacific track leased from the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad. It exists in the particular American tradition of volunteers and enthusiasts keeping old machines alive through sheer stubbornness -- and in recent years, that stubbornness has been tested by storms, legal battles, fire, and a city that wants to tear up the tracks.

Image: Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad: Tracks Along the Tideline

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. The standard run is the Oregon Coastal Excursion, a 90-minute round trip between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach. Thirty minutes in each direction with a half-hour layover at the far end, time enough to walk the beach or grab a coffee before the return. The route hugs the eastern sh...

Image: Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad: The Great Coastal Gale

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. In December 2007, the Oregon coast took a beating that redrew the map of what the railroad could do. The Great Coastal Gale brought hurricane-force winds and more than seven inches of rain in less than 24 hours. In the Salmonberry River Valley, the storm demolished the line -- fl...

Image: Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad: Fights Over Fish and Track

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. Nature was not the only adversary. In 2014, the OCSR attempted to rebuild storm-damaged track in the Salmonberry River corridor and placed rock fill along the riverbank without obtaining state environmental permits. Oregon regulators objected, citing threats to native salmon and ...

Image: Ben Brooks from Fife WA, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad: Iron Horses, Stubborn People

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rich gitsch, CC BY-SA 3.0. What keeps the trains running is a collection of vintage equipment that reads like an inventory of Pacific Northwest logging and railroad history. The roster includes locomotives from the Curtiss Lumber Company, the McCloud River Railroad in California, and the Columbia River Bel...

Image: Rich gitsch | CC BY-SA 3.0