Troutdale Historical Society: Depot Rail Museum & Caboose

The Depot Rail Museum is closed for renovation. [April 2020]

Troutdale was a bustling rail stop from the time that trains first traveled east from Portland along the Columbia River in 1882. After the original depot burned in 1907, it was replaced by the current depot, which was acquired from Union Pacific Railroad in 1976 and moved across the tracks to its current site on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The Depot Rail Museum, a Troutdale Historic Landmark, houses train memorabilia and includes a 1975 Union Pacific CA-10 Caboose.

​Open Fridays only 10am-2pm.

1975 Union Pacific CA-10 Caboose Rehabilitation

Thanks to a city grant, combined with money and many volunteer hours from THS, our 1975 Union Pacific CA-10 Caboose is painted in bright yellow and red, and even glows in the dark.

In late fall, painters from Georgia came to restore the exterior of the caboose. Treasurer Marilee Thompson led the operation with help from Kelly Broomall, Stan Clarke and Jon Lowell. Clarke chased down and found a way to get new reflective decals, which is why it glows in the dark. Next the "Caboosters," those listed above and a few others, including new volunteer Charles Arnet, are looking at the interior. Gerald Stephan has restored the stove. LeAnn Stephan's brother, Steve Mackley of Beaverton Auto Upholstery, has reupholstered all the chairs and benches, a gift of $2,600.

We need to clean up and restore the exterior of the rusting refrigerator. We want to extend electricity to the caboose so we have lights and heat. The interior will require a careful cleaning and some paint touch up, the windows need polishing with a special compound, ditto the aluminum window frames. We plan to leave the interior as it is. It has wonderful stenciled instructions explaining how to run a caboose and the autographs and other signs of use that occurred over the years. "It is a museum," says Clarke, who has done much of the research.

The Depot Rail Museum is open each Friday, hosted by Kelly Broomall. While we can't host tours inside the caboose right now, you are most welcome to come by and find out how things are going. If you have help to offer, even better. (Article from the THS Bygone Times Jan-March 2017 Issue)

Our caboose rehabilitation caught the attention of Arlen Sheldrake, a reporter for the The Trainmaster newsletter. The article made the front page of their January 2017 issue. Click on this link to read the entire newsletter. The Trainmaster, January 2017, Issue No. 654 Thank you Stan Clarke for bringing this to our attention.

The Depot

On November 20, 1882 a rail line was built through what is now Troutdale and east through the Columbia River Gorge. Troutdale’s founder, Capt John Harlow, asked railroad builders to establish a depot at his town site. When they refused, he sailed his small riverboat up the Sandy River during a spring freshet and declared the river navigable demanding an expensive draw bridge to accommodate river traffic instead of the trestle planned by railroad builders. He obligingly withdrew his demand when the railroad bowed to his wishes for a depot.

Troutdale grew up along the tracks, a one-sided main street facing what is now the Union Pacific line. The town flourished and once boasted a meat packing plant, a five-story distillery, a lumber mill, an opera house, and its own newspaper.

The original 1882 depot burned in 1907. The existing structure was built to replace it the same year. Indoor restrooms were later added and the trackside bay area altered. Otherwise, the building, which was the shipping site of many carloads of fresh vegetables, is much the same as when it was new. The station agent’s office contains railroad artifacts donated by local residents.

The depot was given to Troutdale by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1976. It was moved from the original site, on the north side of the tracks, to its current location. The caboose was added to the grounds when it was donated by the railroad in 1987.​

Links

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway