(The following article by Brent Hunsberger was posted on the Oregonian website on August 19.)
PORTLAND, Ore. — A fire continues to burn inside a key rail tunnel southeast of Eugene, disrupting Amtrak passenger service between the Northwest and California and causing freight delays for West Coast shippers.
A Union Pacific-owned tunnel between Eugene and Chemult caught fire Saturday, shutting down a key railroad corridor serving 18 to 20 trains a day.
“We don’t know how long it will be until this is out,” said Ed Immel, rail planner with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Amtrak halted all Coast Starlight trains north of Oakland, Calif., and south of Eugene late Saturday, inconveniencing hundreds of travelers. The line serves an average of 1,200 passengers a day between Seattle and Los Angeles.
Amtrak is not offering alternate transportation at this time, said spokeswoman Sarah Swain.
Immel said Amtrak hopes to eventually bus passengers between Eugene and Klamath Falls, but Swain could not say when a backup plan might start. Amtrak’s Cascades service between Seattle and Eugene has not been affected, Immel said.
The tunnel closure could delay by four days shipments of lumber, merchandise and other freight bound for Los Angeles from the Northwest, industry officials said.
The 3,164-foot-long, timber-lined tunnel, high on a mountain pass between Oakland, Ore. and Chemult, caught fire Saturday, railroad officials said. Sparks from a locomotive’s engine or brakes probably caused the fire, Immel said.
Steep terrain and heavy smoke have hampered Union Pacific’s efforts to fight the fire, he said.
The closure has forced Union Pacific to route some Los Angeles-bound freight as far east as Salt Lake City, Immel said. The railroad also is diverting trains through Bend on a Burlington Northern Santa Fe-owned rail line, Immel said. But the line, known as the Oregon Trunk, normally handles only 10 trains daily.
“That Oregon Trunk railroad just doesn’t have the capacity to handle 18 to 20 new trains a day,” Immel said.
The fire is the second to close a key Oregon-to-California tunnel in nine months. In November, a fire closed another timber-lined tunnel south of Medford owned by Central Oregon Pacific Railroad. That tunnel is not expected to reopen until October, Immel said.
Dalia Medina, 74, of Flagstaff, Ariz., came to visit her family in The Dalles this week. She began her trip at 9 p.m. Monday in Flagstaff and made it to Portland, via bus and train, at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“It was a mess, a nightmare,” she said.
She plans to fly back to Flagstaff.
Amtrak passengers can call 1-800-872-7245 for more information, Swain said.