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Opinion Columnists Dorothy Swart Fleshman's columns All aboard: Traveling by train benefits work at fairgrounds
All aboard: Traveling by train benefits work at fairgrounds
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The year was 1913. An old Oct. 2 copy of The La Grande Evening Observer carried a story about La Grande folks taking the train to the fair. It was the words “train ... fair” that caught my eye. Rather a coincidence, I thought, as I sat there in the public library archives recording the papers, for I wanted to take the coming July 10 train to support our county fair some 97 years after that paper had come out.It must have been a wonderful affair as the La Grande band played the morning that almost 150 La Grande people, including representatives of most of the business houses, got aboard the O.W.R. & N. branch line passenger car. Then the band itself boarded the train, too, and took part in keeping the festivities going all the way to Enterprise. Our library isn’t far from the old Union Pacific depot down Jefferson Avenue, so my mind didn’t have far to travel to see the folks gathering at the depot and the noisy gaiety that preceded the boarding. The steam whistle of the train would have followed the conductor’s “All aboard” call, and off they would have gone up the track. At Enterprise the band led the way to the Wallowa County Fair’s opening day where all the La Grande folks were made welcome by the Wallowa residents. In the evening, the branch line train returned the 150 or so visitors home again. They had a wonderful time. My initial problem in accepting a chance to ride the Eagle Cap Excursion Train, in response to the offer made by the Union County Fair Foundation to ride the train in support of our own fair, was to get a car ride as far as Elgin in order to board the train rather than getting on at the La Grande depot, much to my sorrow. Here I sat in the archives with the successful 1913 story spread upon the old newsprint while I waited impatiently for the phone call. Since I couldn’t get on the train at La Grande, I figured there must be others like myself who no longer drove the highway and would have no way of covering the distance. Thus, I envisioned a mini-bus taking a group of us in similar happy circumstances to catch the train. The call came at my home a short while later. No, there were no plans for a bus, but I was welcome to ride with Dan, which I gratefully accepted. We were to meet at 8:45 a.m. Saturday at Albertsons where he was to pick up lunches for the riders and crew. I was a bit apprehensive about the weather since it was heavily overcast and the weather report had been for possible thunder storms. Committed, though, I braved the out-of-doors with determination to ride the train. Unworried about the weather potential, La Grande was out in full force celebrating Crazy Days on the Oregon Trail. Shortly after I arrived at the grocery store and had parked, Dan and a store clerk were on hand to stow the boxes of food and water in his van. My escort, as it turned out, was Dan Pokorney, a member of the Union County Fair Foundation responsible for helping sell tickets, arrange for the lunches and stay for cleanup of the train following the ride. The ticket sale had been successful and they were expecting a full passenger load on the train. In fact, other potential riders had to be turned away because of it. Soon we were on our way through Island City, Imbler with its highway construction silent for the moment and beyond toward Elgin. At Elgin, parade watchers were beginning to form along the street sides in anticipation of the planned 10 a.m. Kids Parade as part of the Elgin Stampede weekend activities. When we drove into the depot area, a few folks had already gathered on the ramp-way awaiting permission to board, but we were in plenty of time for Dan and some helpers to fulfill his duties in carrying the boxes of food and stowing them on the train before the passengers were allowed to entrain. Perhaps I should repeat the explanation of why the train ride had been made possible, at the low $25 cost for a ride and lunch, for those who might not know. In exchange for the donation of the Union Pacific Railroad caboose, which had originally been based at the Union County Fairgrounds, the trip was specially arranged as a fundraiser for the Friends of the Union County Fair Foundation by the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority, on the Eagle Cap Excursion Train. Called the Union County Fair Express, we were to travel and return along the Grande Ronde and Wallowa rivers from Elgin to Kimmel for the 3 1/2-hour trip. A corrected error in the newspaper had first stated to Wallowa, but Kimmel was the planned destination before returning to Elgin. The funds raised by the trip would go toward repair and construction work at the fairgrounds. The caboose now stood on a side track in Elgin awaiting a new future. On the present day of our ride, we had assembled at the Elgin depot at 10 a.m. with ticket in hand in order to take our turn at boarding the excursion train just as they had 97 years before in La Grande. I no longer had to imagine the crowd voices growing in volume or the pleasantries exchanged between friends and strangers alike. It was there for real. Without a band to cheer us on, it had been a more subdued group slowly gathering before train time. They visited quietly among themselves as though a little unsure of the procedure and awaiting instruction as they watched Dan and helpers store the lunch boxes aboard the train. Although there had been no band to pipe us aboard the train, the weather turned out beautifully for the full day. Our engineer was to be Larry I. Knouse, our conductor Max Griffin, both of whom I believe to be retired from the Union Pacific Railroad. Jason Seiffert, a WURA employee, was the fireman. On board to serve us were Friends of the Joseph Branch volunteers Ann Warren and Maureen Smolkowski, with Frances Buckles in the gift shop and Union County Fair Foundation President Mary West and Nan Bigej, fair manager. At 9:30 a.m., Conductor Max Griffin, in black trousers, white shirt and black-billed conductor’s cap, stood before us all and called out, “All aboard!” We began our embarking, single file by ticket-taker Nan, and up the steps into the train. We would soon be on our way.
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