Reader Max Hoefer saw all the construction activity at the west end of the Jefferson bridge. “What is going on?” he asked. So on Sunday the Answer Man went to take a look.
Albany log yard: The story behind it
Written May 7th, 2018 by Hasso Hering
Sawmills disappeared from Albany decades ago, but a part of the business has returned in the form of a small company that buys logs and resells them to mills in Oregon and as far away as China.
A century later, it still does the job
Written September 1st, 2017 by Hasso Hering
On my way back from Shedd on Thursday, I was glad to see that my favorite railroad bridge has not yet been replaced. I like all bridges, but this one especially because it shows that a simple design properly built can do a hard job for more than a hundred years.
Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Linn County scenery, railroad bridges, Southern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific
Tags: Linn County scenery, railroad bridges, Southern Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific
Saving space on Interstate 5
Written August 5th, 2017 by Hasso Hering
Here’s another reason to welcome double-stacking of containers on Union Pacific’s mainline through Albany: Think of the additional congestion prevented on Interstate 5 that the trains represent.
Queen crossing to remain bumpy
Written July 31st, 2017 by Hasso Hering
Albany’s busiest railroad crossing on Queen Avenue will be improved for safety one of these days. But it won’t be soon, and when it’s done it will still be a bumpy ride for cars.
Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: ODOT-Rail, Portland & Western, Queen Avenue crossing, Rick Shankle, Union Pacific
Tags: ODOT-Rail, Portland & Western, Queen Avenue crossing, Rick Shankle, Union Pacific
Site seen as valley’s link to big ports
Written February 7th, 2017 by Hasso Hering
The sprawling Millersburg site where International Paper shut down and demolished the Albany Paper Mill still sits mostly empty, presumably awaiting a buyer. But some local officials have visions of turning the place into an intermodal shipping hub that would bypass the troubled Port of Portland and link the valley to the world.
Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: intermodel hub, International Paper, Millersburg site, transportation, Union Pacific
Tags: intermodel hub, International Paper, Millersburg site, transportation, Union Pacific
The passing parade: Military gear
Written May 28th, 2016 by Hasso Hering
I was on the section of Seventh Avenue paralleling the Union Pacific’s mainline. And I nearly jumped over the handlebars when a UP freight, pounding up the tracks behind me, let loose with its horn, twice. Then I stopped and watched a long line of war-fighting equipment being hauled north.
Posted in: Uncategorized, Videos
Tags: Albany cycling, military equipment, Military transport, Union Pacific
Tags: Albany cycling, military equipment, Military transport, Union Pacific
Quiet zones in Albany: Better not
Written December 4th, 2015 by Hasso Hering
Albany has been a railroad town since 1870. Some people don’t like the sound of that. Train horns at crossings bother them. But turning the entire city into a “quiet zone” might cost in the neighborhood of $14 million.
Railroad safety on Cox Creek Path
Written January 18th, 2015 by Hasso Hering
This is something you don’t see all that often: Flaggers keeping an eye on traffic where Albany’s Cox Creek Path ducks under the Union Pacific mainline.
A memorial to a troubled man
Dozens of times over the last few months, I’ve ridden the bike past a roadside memorial where the Cox Creek Path comes out on Salem Avenue. Wind and weather have reduced the shrine to a small pile of rubbish, but you can still tell for whom it was put up.
Tags: Albany police, Donald Keith Sawyer, roadside memorial, Union Pacific