Railroad That Ran By The Tide

For more than forty years the Ilwaco Railway & Navigation Co. served the communities of the North Beach peninsula, at the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington State. It started as a stage line carrying passengers and mail along the beach _ and sometimes through the surf _ from one steamer connection to another on the circuitous coastal route from Portland to Seattle.

The narrow gauge railroad was built from Ilwaco on Bakers Bay to Nahcotta on Willapa Bay, a distance of 15 miles; it never had an outside rail connection. The railroad did make daily connection with the steamers at its northern and southern termini, and since their landings were regulated by the tides, the I.R.&N. tailored its schedules accordingly.

Dubbed the "Irregular, Rambling and Never_get_there" by one local journalist and wit, the railroad with its pleasant pace and homegrown services boosted the economy of the peninsula immeasurably. Oysters from the sheltered waters of Willapa Bay made their way to Ilwaco and then-to San Francisco; spruce logs were carried from Nahcotta to be made into rafts on the Columbia. But most of all the railroad brought vacationers to the fine beaches on the peninsula's Pacific shore.

There's something irresistibly neat and tidy about the operations of a self-contained, narrow gauge short line. With small-town politics, perennial local characters and corporate battles, the story of the I.R.&N. is a microcosm of railroading at the turn of the century.

The last run on September 9, 1930. The hogger Clem Morris was asked to smoke it up a bit for the photographer on the curve south into Ocean Park. He certainly obliged!

The Railroad That Ran By The Tide..........Map..........Scenes Along the Line..........About the Book

Map

Railroad system maps always distorted geography to show their line the fastest and shortest route between two points. This 1920 UP system map is no exception! Megler is actually located 15 miles upriver from Ilwaco after a 90 degree turn.

The Railroad That Ran By The Tide..........Map..........Scenes Along the Line..........About the Book

Scenes along the line

The Ilwaco Railroad trans-shipped huge spruce logs from Willapa Bay to Baker Bay on the Columbia. For this purpose they had 20 disconnect log trucks. The one armed man may be superintendent Budd who suffered an accident on the Oregon & California. The log trains from Nahcotta to Ilwaco provided good revenue for the IR&N.

T.J. Potter, queen of the OR&N river fleet. Arriving from Portland, she often required multiple sections of the narrow gauge to carry passengers from Megler to North Beach points.

The right of way through downtown Long Beach was but 10 feet wide. After an embarassing incident when a rotund pedestrian was rolled between a passing train and a high board fence, the right of way was widened to 15 feet. . Here we see the Long Beach station on the right and Tinker's Hotel.

The Railroad That Ran By The Tide..........Map..........Scenes Along the Line..........About the Book

About the book

Railroad That Ran by the Tide, the story of the Ilwaco Railroad & Navigation Company, with 181 illustrations, maps and drawings. Expanded edition due soon. Accurate roster and original specification drawings for the modeler. More photographs.

For more information on the book:

Raymond J. Feagans

The Railroad That Ran By The Tide..........Map..........Scenes Along the Line..........About the Book