Woelpern

Steve Hart, Upper Columbia River Highway Survey

Woelpern Fragment

1.4 miles, Mile 138.2, Accessed from Woelpern Exit, Verified

July 14, 2020

It seems like the cloud back-up I found of my photos is missing quite a few shots from the 2014 trip, but luckily Steve got out there to fill in the gaps.

Kirk J. Poole, July 14, 2020

It still has gravel shoulders right here.

July 14, 2020

Since 2014, it looks like the area got hit by a fire. Six years was a long time ago, but I am pretty sure I would remember that!

July 11, 2020

I believe the yellow path in the map above is the old Route 2 grade heading towards Lang Canyon. I'll cover that more on the Lang Canyon Fragments page. While someone needs to get on the ground out there to confirm this for sure, I am confident enough to mark that route as confirmed on the map, for now.

CLICK HERE for more information on the LANG CANYON FRAGMENTS

July 11, 2020

I am starting to suspect that the steep grade past the gate is not US 30, and that the original grade descending to where the railroad is now was blasted away when the tracks were moved. I want to take another look in person, but I think this was cut in as a UP access road when the railway was reconfigured during the construction of the John Day Dam.

July 11, 2020

For quite awhile I assumed the road to the river shown above was the old highway grade following its path into and under the water. Now, it is pretty clear that neither the Route 2 or improved US 30 alignments went any further north here than the railroad grade.

Kirk J. Poole, July 14, 2020

Looks like that cement spackle on the bottom of the hill like we see at Arlington. The grade definitely looks very blown up here.

July 11, 2020

The photo below seems to show that from here and for some distance to the east, the railroad grade actually was originally the improved highway itself. This is taken from a point a bit further to the east than the Woelpern Fragment. After that is a sort of crummy Google Earth recreation of the scene as it looked in 2019.

Austin from the Archives suggests the 1930s as the date for the Oregon Archives image, but this photo shows construction of the "improved" US 30, not the original Route 2, so that seems very early to me. We are seeing the section between the Woelpern and Lang Canyon Fragments with Lang Canyon visible in the distance.

Today, the UP uses the grade seen in the photo.

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Kirk J. Poole, July 11, 2020:

The Lang Canyon construction photo is from 1950-1952

Steve Hart, July 11, 2020:

Best I can tell from HA, the old highway is now underwater from Blalock to Arlington except for the Woelpern/Lang Canyon piece. The 50s highway dips into water just west of Lang Canyon, the earlier highway just east of Lang Canyon.

Larry Humphrey, July 11, 2020:

The Car looks like a 37 chevy or close to it ,., doesn't mean that some one was not driving a older car in the 50ies though.

Warren Yee, July 11, 2020:

The last time you could ride a train on the UPRR was back in 1997, on Amtrak's Pioneer.

Kirk J. Poole, July 14, 2020:

It baffles me that ODOT spent all these millions to upgrade the highway, only to hear 5-8 years later: "They're building 2 more dams!". I hope the Feds chipped in a little more to compensate the State for flooding our brand new highway...

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway