Klamath Heritage: Spencer Creek Trestle

Spencer Creek Trestle, Date Unknown (Submitted by Klamath County Museum)

Several large railroad trestles once stood at various locations around Klamath County. Our Photo of the Week for Sept. 30, 2018, shows the trestle that spanned Spencer Creek on Weyerhaeuser Company’s “west side” mainline railroad, also known as the 100 line.

Weyerhaeuser began acquiring timberlands west of Keno in the early 1900s, and began logging operations when its first sawmill opened in 1928. At that time, several lumber companies in Klamath County used railroads to move logs from the woods to the mill. Weyerhaeuser’s west side line ran from the mill near Klamath Falls, past Keno, across Spencer Creek, and into the area along Highway 66. Numerous temporary railroad spurs extended to logging operations as they moved from site to site.

Click on the link below to see a Google Maps view of this site.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.188919,-122.0723801,122a,35y,1.13h,78.31t/data=!3m1!1e3

Weyerhaeuser was the last lumber company in the region to discontinue use of railroad spurs to bring logs out of the woods. Rails from the 100 line were taken up sometime around 1960, and the trestle seen here was disassembled around that time.

The company continued to use the old railroad bed as a haul road for trucks, allowing it to haul heavy loads and avoid weight limits on public roads. A new bridge on the haul road was installed over Highway 66 at Keno in 1962. Click on the link below to see that bridge in Google Streetview.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1316433,-121.9254522,3a,75y,228.75h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNDO-kyqXlGQMKViRg2NpRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Although railroad logging ended by 1960, Weyerhaeuser continued to use the OC&E and Woods Line railroads to carry logs from its “east side” operations to town into the 1980s. However, trucks were used to haul logs out of the woods, with their loads being transferred to railcars at certain points along the mainline.

Information provided from the Klamath County Museum.