(The following appeared on the Wallowa County Chieftain website on January 29, 2010.)
ENTERPRISE, Ore. Union Pacific Railroad this week began pulling mothballed railcars out of storage in Wallowa County as its business picks up.
Some 150 cars were moved off Wallowa Union Railroad tracks this week and another 75 have been ordered by UP for next week, Mark Davidson, Union County commissioner and the railroad's general manager, said Friday, Jan. 29.
The removed cars were among those that UP has been paying WURR to store since 2009 because of the economic downturn. Another 72 had been expected to be delivered for storage soon, bringing the total to the 1,980 called for in the $2.1 million contract with UP that ends in 2012.
Davidson said the reversal was unexpected.
Just a week earlier, Davidson had said UP told him its business was improving but wouldn't need the centerbeam flatcars stored here. They are used primarily to transport lumber and other building products.
"I have a bit of a concern," Davidson said, "but there's no immediate problem." UP pays to lease the 30-mile stretch of track used for the railcar storage, and pays the same monthly payment no matter how many or how few cars are in storage, he said.
But if UP finds enough business to justify putting all the cars back in service, it can cancel the contract with six months notice, Davidson said.
The railroad is using the UP income to make its payments to the state on the loan it received to purchase the rail line from Elgin to Joseph when it was about to be abandoned and torn up in the 1990s.
The UP revenue had come as a relief to the railroad, but the miles of stored cars had caused community debate in a county known for its majestic scenery.
