ELGIN — The Eagle Cap Excursion Train, which offers some of the most scenic rides in the Northwest, is safe to run for another year. But observers worry that mounting maintenance issues jeopardize the train’s long-term future.

The popularity of the train rides remain strong, drawing about 2,000 passengers for about 20 rides in 2022. However, the long-term outlook for the condition of the tracks used by the train is uncertain, said David Arnold, a former board member and vice president of the Friends of the Joseph Branch, which manages the Elgin Railroad Depot and operates the Eagle Cap Excursion Train for the Wallowa Union Railroad.

“If we don’t take steps to address the long-term condition of its tracks we could lose the excursion train in a few years, if not sooner,” said Arnold, who lives in La Grande.

Arnold, a member of the Friends of the Joseph Branch for 20 years before stepping aside 14 months ago, fears that in future years permission from the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority to operate the Eagle Cap Excursion Train, which it obtained for 2023 in January, may be harder to obtain because he thinks the condition of its tracks may decline to the point the excursion train will not be able to operate on the Wallowa Union Railroad’s tracks from Elgin to Minam.

“We can’t keep delaying this and kicking the can down the road,” he said.

Arnold said he believes extensive maintenance of these tracks has been delayed so long they are at risk of breaking down in several years to the point that restoring them would be cost prohibitive.

Union County Commissioner Matt Scarfo, a member of the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority Board, said while there is a need for maintenance work on the tracks, none of the issues will put riders at risk.

“Safety is always our No. 1 concern,” he said.

Report shows rails are ‘pretty solid’

Ed Spauldlng, president of the Friends of the Joseph Branch, agrees the railroad is in need of extensive maintenance work. He is buoyed, however, by news the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority Board received last summer from the Rick Franklin Corporation, of Lebanon, which provides a range of emergency and nonemergency railroad services. The company examined the tracks, which run for 63 miles from Elgin to Joseph, and submitted its findings to the railroad authority’s board.

“Rick Franklin found that the tracks’ metal rails are pretty solid,” Spaulding said.

The condition of the metal rails is particularly strong, according to the Franklin report, considering the last time they had received major maintenance work was in the 1980s when they were owned by Union Pacific Railroad.

The report, which cost $5,000, also provided the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority with an extensive list of items that must be done to upgrade the tracks. This information is on a color coded map and lists where work needs to be done and by what time, including removing and inserting of ties, tamping the ballast — the gravel or coarse stone used to form the bed of a railroad track — and aligning the track.

The Wallowa Union Railroad’s tracks also are at risk, according to the report, because rock debris is building up on the side of the tracks facing away from the rivers it runs along. The rock debris needs to be pushed to the side of tracks facing rivers. This will help mudslides pass over the tracks to the other side rather than pile up on them.

“It will give mudslides a place to go,” Arnold said.

The timing of the Rick Franklin Report could help the Wallowa Union Railroad, according to Scarfo. He said the report will be used by the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority if it applies for grants from the federal government for maintenance funding.

“We will know what to apply for,” Scarfo said.

‘We are at a crossroad’

The Wallowa Union Railroad Authority may apply for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grants, that are being made available through the $21 billion Building A Better America infrastructure bill Congress passed in 2021. Spaulding noted an organization such as the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority will be able to apply for these grants for at least each of the next four years.

Spaulding said if the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority were to receive a $10 million federal infrastructure grant, it would be in a position to make a high percentage of the needed improvements for the 63 miles of tracks of the railroad, which is owned jointly by Union and Wallowa counties. Spaulding said he is worried the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority may not be in a position to apply for a major Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grant because it could be forced to submit matching grants of up to 20%.

This would mean that for the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority to receive a $10 million grant it would first have to raise about $2 million for a matching grant.

Scarfo said if this is the case, he would attempt to get the state to provide some of the money for a matching grant.

The rails used by the Eagle Cap Excursion Train cover just 19 of the 63 miles of railway that constitutes the Wallowa Union Railroad. The stretch from Minam to Joseph cannot be used anymore by trains because its condition has deteriorated. Spaulding said he hopes this portion of the line can someday be restored to the point that trains, including the Eagle Cap Excursion Train, can run on it again.

Arnold noted if the tracks from Minam to Joseph are restored, it also would mean the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority would be able to store cars from other railroads on the tracks. The rent railroads would pay to the Wallowa Union Railroad could generate a significant amount of revenue that would help cover maintenance costs, according to Arnold.

Spaulding said he believes it would be best if the Wallowa Union Railroad soon determines if it wants to restore the Minam to Joseph portion of the line, or if it wants to focus its efforts on continuing to operate the Eagle Cap Excursion Train in the manner it is now. He noted now is time to decide, because funding for improvement work may not be as accessible in the future as it is now.

“We are at a crossroad,” Spaulding said.

This is the first in a two-part series looking at the future of the Elgin Excursion Train.