Union Pacific

Long train, long wait at Albany crossings

Written January 21st, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 5 responses.

For most of its history Albany has been a railroad town, and I like it that way. For drivers this comes with the occasional inconvenience of long waits at grade crossings, as happened Thursday.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Albany, Albany Station, freight trains, grade crossings, Railroads, Union Pacific

Rail bridge reaches its century mark

Written January 19th, 2021 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 6 responses.

Watching a freight train crossing the river on the “Toledo District Willamette Bridge” on Tuesday made me realize something: This is a big anniversary year for that steel structure spanning the river at Albany. It was built 100 years ago, in 1921.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 100 years, Albany railroad bridge, Dave Clark Path, Portland & Western, rail bridge anniversary, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific

Slow going at the Queen Ave. crossing

Written May 11th, 2020 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 7 responses.

Waiting at Albany’s Queen Avenue railroad crossing gives you plenty of time to contemplate one of the riddles of our time, such as why it takes ODOT so many years to get going on a simple project that doesn’t seem all that necessary in the first place.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: ODOT, Portland & Western, Queen Avenue crossing, Union Pacific

Looking around on Corona Day Four

Written March 26th, 2020 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 10 responses.

On Day Four of Oregon’s corona shutdown, which began with the governor’s order Monday, operations of the Union Pacific didn’t seem to be affected, as you would expect. But just about every other activity in Albany other than construction was closed or slowed down. And as for me, just as I got to […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany stores, corona shutdown, Union Pacific

Another rail crossing to avoid?

Written March 5th, 2019 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 2 responses.

[youtube video=”AQopOSnaZUo”] If Santiam Road on Tuesday is an example, the notorious Queen Avenue railroad crossing is not the only place in Albany where train operations sometimes cause long delays.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany grade crossings, Railroad operations, Santiam Road, Union Pacific

A memorial to a troubled man

Written December 29th, 2018 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 7 responses.

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.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: Albany police, Donald Keith Sawyer, roadside memorial, Union Pacific

Big railroad job near Jefferson bridge

Written October 8th, 2018 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 2 responses.

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.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Jefferson bridge, Santiam River bridge, Union Pacific