Pengra Pass rail route

{{short description|Railroad in California and Oregon}}

{{use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

File:SP Natron Tunnel 3 West 1997.jpg in 1925.]]

{{Cascade Subdivision}}

The Pengra Pass rail route, also known as the Natron Cutoff, the Cascade Subdivision, or the Cascade Line, is a Union Pacific Railroad line (originally a Southern Pacific Railroad line) connecting Eugene, Oregon, with Klamath Falls, Oregon. Construction of the line began in 1905 and was completed in the mid-1920s.{{Cite book |last=Solomon |first=Brian |url={{Google books|ja00vgAACAAJ|pg=PA38|plainurl=yes}} |title=Southern Pacific Railroad |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7603-0614-7 |page=38}}{{Cite web |title=Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Tunnel 3, Milepost 537.77, Odell Lake, Klamath County, OR |url=http://loc.gov/pictures/item/or0457/ |access-date=January 16, 2016 |website=Historic American Engineering Record |publisher=Library of Congress}} Its name denotes a mountain pass on the Lane County–Klamath County boundary in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, about {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} from Willamette Pass.{{Cite web |title=Pengra Pass Loops Snow Trail |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/willamette/recreation/wintersports/recarea/?recid=4729&actid=91 |access-date=January 16, 2016 |publisher=U.S. Forest Service}} The line heads southeast from Eugene, up the Cascades and over Pengra Pass, then southward beside U.S. Route 97 to Klamath Falls, where it splits in two, each track continuing into California.{{Cite book |last=Solomon |first=Brian |url={{Google books|QxYx-iC0FFQC|pg=PA88|plainurl=yes}} |title=Southern Pacific Passenger Trains |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |year=2005 |isbn=0-7603-1795-X |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |page=88}} The route has at least 22 tunnels, several snow sheds and multiple bridges across canyons.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}} BNSF has trackage rights between Klamath Falls and Chemult.{{Cite map |url=https://www.bnsf.com/bnsf-resources/pdf/ship-with-bnsf/maps-and-shipping-locations/bnsf-network-map.pdf |title=BNSF Network Map |date=January 2024 |publisher=BNSF}}

The Pengra Pass route was built to provide trains running between Eugene and California with a cheaper and otherwise more practical option than to follow the older Siskiyou Pass route, which runs south from Eugene and over Siskiyou Pass to California. The new route opened in February 1926.{{cite book |last1=Solomon |first1=Brian |title=Southern Pacific Passenger Trains |date=2005 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=9781610605076 |pages=85–86}} As a result, the Siskiyou Pass route was rendered nearly obsolete. In 2008, a landslide in the area shut down rail traffic for 105 days, which forced Union Pacific trains to make lengthy detours and Amtrak to halt services between Eugene and Sacramento, severing a key west coast rail link.{{Cite press release |title=Union Pacific Moves Mountains to Restore Train Service; Back on Track after Major Oregon Mudslide |date=May 6, 2008 |publisher=Union Pacific |location=Roseville, Calif. |url=https://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/service/2008/0506_mudslide.shtml |access-date=September 19, 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Palmer |first=Susan |date=February 20, 2008 |title=Major Landslide in Willamette National Forest Caused by 1992 Clearcut |url=https://www.bark-out.org/content/major-landslide-willamette-national-forest-caused-1992-clearcut |access-date=September 19, 2018 |work=Eugene Register-Guard}}{{Cite news |last=Glascock |first=Stuart |date=2008-03-03 |title=Landslide is a mess -- and a boon |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-mar-03-na-train3-story.html |access-date=September 19, 2018 |work=Los Angeles Times}} In 2011, no trains had used the Siskiyou Pass route in almost a decade.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Siskiyou Pass |encyclopedia=The Oregon Encyclopedia |publisher=Portland State University |url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/siskiyou_pass/ |access-date=January 16, 2016 |last1=LaLande |first1=Jeff}} By 2015 however, that line was reopening to relieve I-5 of local truck traffic. On May 29, 2018, one of the tunnels, known as Tunnel 11, caved in during scheduled maintenance work, shutting down rail traffic for 3 weeks. Union Pacific rerouted their freight trains running between Northern California and Portland through a lengthy detour, while Amtrak service did not operate between Eugene and Sacramento (initially between Eugene and Klamath Falls, with a bus bridge between the two points).{{Cite web |title=UP Cascade (Oregon) Shut-down - Tunnel Collapse!!! |url=https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4563839 |access-date=September 19, 2018}}{{Cite web |date=July 18, 2018 |title=Through Dirt, Rock and Water: Reopening Tunnel No. 11 |url=https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/oregon-tunnel-07-18-2018.htm |access-date=September 19, 2018 |website=Inside Track |publisher=Union Pacific}}{{Cite web |last=Moran |first=Jack |date=May 30, 2018 |title=Tunnel collapse forces Amtrak to bus passengers between Eugene, Klamath Falls |url=https://www.registerguard.com/news/20180530/tunnel-collapse-forces-amtrak-to-bus-passengers-between-eugene-klamath-falls |access-date=September 19, 2018 |website=Eugene Register-Guard}}{{Cite web |last=Franz |first=Justin |date=May 30, 2018 |title=UPDATE: Tunnel collapse shuts down UP in the Cascades |url=http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/05/30-tunnel-collapse-shuts-down-up-in-the-cascades |access-date=September 19, 2018 |website=Trains Magazine}}

Nonetheless, a major helper operation is demanded by the Pengra Pass route's {{convert|44|mi|km}} of constant grade—the longest anywhere on the former Southern Pacific system, including Donner Pass.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

The right-of-way is surrounded by waterfalls and streams running through a Douglas fir forest. At many locations, the track runs atop the steep southern slopes of the Salt Creek canyon.