Portland Tribune Closer to Home
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EDITION PortlandTUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPERTribune • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY GREATER PORTLAND A view from the Rose City cab of the SP 4449 of Mike Warren watching Gary Oslund caught in inspect further maintenance to the firebox of fast Gig the historic steam locomotive at the Oregon Rail City fight Heritage Center. CenturyLink, Google tussle over high-speed broadband plans Story by Jim Redden By JIM REDDEN The Tribune Photos by Jaime Valdez Portlanders interested in HISTORY’S broadband service might be ortland’s most famous a little confused about steam locomotive is On history’s track what’s available or possibly open for public inspec- coming to their neighbor- Ption — literally. Name: Southern Pacic 4449 hoods. The city-owned 1941 locomo- Built: 1941 The City Council made a big tive that helped celebrate Manufacturer: Lima Locomotive deal out of Google’s announce- American’s bicentennial is un- Works, Lima, Ohio INSIDE VIEW Length: 110 feet ment that it might bring its 1 dergoing required maintenance gigabit per at the Rail Heritage Center Width: 10 feet second ser- near OMSI. Most of the outer Height: 16 feet “We are vice to Port- ■ Maintenance of SP 4449 locomotive sheet metal, insulation and ex- Weight: 433 tons building out land. The ternal piping has been re- Drive Wheel: 80 inches council held moved, exposing the massive Horsepower: 6,500 our existing an enthusias- offers a rare view of local rail heritage 23,000 gallon boiler, which is Boiler Pressure: 300 psi network, tic press con- open at the front. The firebox Fuel: Oil ference with has also been cut open for inter- Donated to Portland: 1958 which is Google offi- nal repairs. Volunteer Organization: Friends already cials in Febru- Visitors to the center are of the SP 4449 available ary when the able to view the work close up To learn more about the Oregon company de- for free. The center, which also Rail Heritage Center and Portland’s historic steam locomotives, visit throughout clared it was houses the city’s two other his- orhf.org. the city.” considering toric locomotives, does not the city and charge admission, although do- — Martin Flynn, several sur- nations are accepted to help placed. CenturyLink rounding cover costs. It is open 1 to 5 p.m. When the work is complete, communities Thursday through Sunday at the boiler will be repainted, the for the ultra high-speed ser- 2250 S.E. Water Ave. cab will be reattached, and the vice, called Google Fiber. “If you want to understand sheet metal that gives the loco- Since then, the council has how a steam locomotive works, motive its distinctive stream- passed a special franchise this is your chance. Everything lined look will be reinstalled. agreement for Google Fiber is out in the open,” says Mark Then the SP 4449 will be ready and agreed it could build the Kramer, president of the equivalent of relay stations Friends of SP 4449, the nonprof- See TRAIN / Page 2 called huts in the public rights it organization that maintains of way. The company is sched- the locomotive, officially known uled to make its decision by as the Southern Pacific 4449. “If you want to the end of the year. The work is being performed understand how a steam But on July 30, Frontier as part of a federally mandated Communications Chief Execu- requirement to ensure that locomotive works, this is tive Maggie Wildermore said boilers in steam locomotives your chance. Everything her company has no plans to are safe. It must be done every is out in the open.” offer 1 gigabit service in Port- The SP 4449 sits in the Rail Heritage Center near OMSI during its mandatory boiler inspection, 1,472 service days or 15 years, land. Speaking at a local meet- which happens every 15 years. whichever comes first. Worn — Mark Kramer, Friends of SP 4449 ing of her board, Wildermore parts are also identified and re- said that although Frontier’s FiOS network is capable of de- livering such speed, no one needs it. But then Mayor Charlie Hales held a press conference on Aug. 5 to announce that CenturyLink already provides 1 gigabit service in parts of City ponders about-face on density Portland. It is among the op- tions offered in some South- posing lower densities on 2,100 east Portland neighborhoods Planners mull ‘down- acres of land throughout the city. and seven residential build- It’s known as down-zoning. ings, including Burnside26, a zoning’ to relieve “It’s been a half-century since 135-unit apartment building pressure on some areas we’ve had this much down-zon- that just opened at 2625 E. ing,” says principal planner Eric See GIG / Page 6 Engstrom of the Bureau of Plan- By STEVE LAW ning and Sustainability. The last The Tribune time the city undertook so much down-zoning was 1959, he says, The city of Portland — of- when many close-in neighbor- ten incurring the wrath of hoods were rezoned to bar residents and neighborhood apartments and only permit associations — has scrambled single-family homes. for two decades to increase To put 2,100 acres in perspec- density via infill develop- tive, it’s equal to the combined A new mixed-use ments, row houses, apart- acreage of the Oregon Zoo, apartment ments and condos. Mount Tabor and Washington complex is Now city planners are plotting parks, the Laurelhurst neighbor- nearing something unthinkable in the hood, the River District and completion on 1990s and 2000s — reducing South Waterfront District, and Southeast density. the entire campuses of Portland Division Street In the proposed comprehen- State University and Oregon and 33rd sive land use plan designed to Health & Science University, in- Avenue. guide Portland’s growth through TRIBUNE PHOTO: the year 2035, planners are pro- See DENSITY / Page 7 JONATHAN HOUSE “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that reects the ROUGHRIDERS ON THE RISE stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Train: Volunteers keep old engines on track ■ From page 1 to roll again. “The 15-year inspection is a lot of hard work being accomplished by great volunteers. When we are finished she will be good for an- other 15 years or 1,472 service days,” says Kramer. On display at park The SP 4449 is the only remain- ing operable streamlined steam locomotive of the Art Deco era. It pulled Southern Pacific “Day- light” coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route to Portland until 1955. The SP 4449 was donated by the railroad to the city in 1958. It sat on display in Oaks Park until 1974, when it was selected to be the second American Freedom Train to tour the country as part of the nation’s Bicentennial Cele- bration. Restoration work began at Bur- lington Northern’s Hoyt Street roundhouse and the SP 4449 re- turned to operation on April 21, 1975, wearing a special red, white, and blue paint scheme. It toured the 48 contiguous states during the celebration pulling a historic display train to the enjoyment of more than 30 million people. After returning to Portland, it was eventually moved to an aging roundhouse in the Union Pacific’s Brooklyn Yards along with the TRIBUNE PHOTOS: JAIME VALDEZ city’s two other historic steam lo- Volunteer Al Pohlpeter makes a suggestion about repairing a lathe to the others working on the SP 4449. comotives, the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 and the Oregon Rail- way & Navigation 197. Both had also been on display in Oaks Volunteer Mike Park. The SP&S 700 was returned Warren cleans a to service in 1990 and restoration mud ring off the work is still underway on the SP 4449 with a OR&N 197. Each is maintained by sander. its own nonprofit organization. The inspection requirement was established by the Federal Railroad Administration in 1998. As part of it, the thickness of the entire boiler must be measured by an ultrasound device to ensure the metal is strong enough to withstand the tremendous pres- Doyle McCormick, sure generated by the steam that left, talks with powers the locomotive. other volunteers All three locomotive were while working on moved to the Oregon Rail Heri- the locomotive. tage Center in in 2012. It is owned and operated by the nonprofit Or- egon Rail Heritage Foundation without any ongoing support from the city. Revenue is raised by donations, concessions, and admission on excursion runs, in- cluding the annual Holiday Ex- press run from Sellwood Park to Portland and back every Christ- mas season. Mark Kramer, Work on the SP 4449 is expect- who is president ed to be completed in time to pull of Friends of Gary Oslund and the 2015 Holiday Express train. 4449 Inc., a Mike Warren That is when the SP&S 700, which non-profit inspect further will pull this year’s train, will be supporting that maintenance to down for its required inspection locomotive, the firebox of — offering visitors to the center looks at the side the steam engine another opportunity to learn rods and wheels at the Oregon about the inner workings of the of the steam Rail Heritage city’s historic locomotives. engine. Center. 7 DAY FORECAST 336981.081914 www.westonkia.com Lease A New KIA From Call 503.665.2166 Oregon’s #1 Volume KIA Dealer 223rd & Stark 2014 KIA SOUL Lease it for only $139/month for 39 months “Where you get more Everyone Knows KIAs with $1,599 cash due at signing for your money” Come from WESTON! Lease only.