Steaming into Lebanon. Just after noontime on a sunny fall day, Santa Maria Valley Locomotive #205 rumbles past the former Southern Pacific passenger and freight depot in downtown Lebanon, OR, with a local freight, headed compass east, toward the Mill City Branch.
The Albany & Lebanon Railroad Company first built tracks into Lebanon, OR around 1880. Just a few years later, the Southern Pacific Railroad acquired these tracks and built depot facilities in town. As passenger and freight traffic grew, these facilities were expanded and a new depot built in 1908, which is the structure you see in this photo. Business peaked here during and just after World War II, with the primary industries being lumber and agricultural products, and much of the passenger traffic associated with the military. After the war, there was a steady decline. Passenger services were discontinued in the 50s and by the mid-80s, freight service was no longer viable. The depot languished vacant for many years and was eventually taken over by the City of Lebanon, and refurbished in the early 2000s for use by its City Council. Today, the depot is once again being used for the purpose for which it was originally constructed, hosting tourist trains operated by Santiam Excursions on the present-day Albany & Eastern Railroad, and utilizing the recently-restored Santa Maria Valley Steam Locomotive #205.
A look at steam operations on Oregon's Albany & Eastern Railroad, headquartered in Lebanon, OR, and featuring Santa Maria Valley Railroad Locomotive #205.
