The flagship steam locomotive for Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OCSR), McCloud River Railroad #25, just turned 100 years old this September.
To celebrate, OCSR hosted a weekend-long event (Sept. 20-21) with special excursions including a stopover in Wheeler.
“This run’s been exciting because we’ve gone all the way from Garibaldi to Wheeler which is something we don’t normally do. Typically, we only run trips from Rockaway Beach to Wheeler or Rockaway Beach to Garibaldi, but not the entire length of the service railroad to Wheeler,” OCSR Operations Supervisor and General Manager Trevor Park said. “We brought people up here not only to celebrate the #25’s 100th birthday, but also to bring business to Wheeler as we’ll be running up here every single weekend [soon]”
The specialty ride from Garibaldi to Wheeler, brought out 200 passengers.

“The businesses here in Wheeler graciously stayed open for us very late to accommodate all of our passengers,” Park said. “Everyone got to come here, have food, go to antique shops, and explore the town and beautiful views it has to offer. It shows [Wheeler’s] commitment to the railroad. We see a huge benefit that it brings to Wheeler, not only the 10,000 plus passengers it brings a year, but also the way the train comes in here and brings the whole community together the way it does. It’s special to see and it’s something we hope to continue to do at the rate we’re doing now, but something we hope to continue to expand on in the future.”
Beginning October 3 and running weekends through November 16, OCSR will be operating their “Fall Splendor” Trips from Rockaway Beach to Wheeler.

“The train is actually a lot closer to the bay and waterways, so it allows people to experience the environment in a historic way as they have 100 years ago,” Park said. “It makes it a really popular and unique attraction because of the array of equipment we have, but also the absolutely stunning scenery we have along the railroad.”
For more information, or to purchase “Fall Splendor” tickets, visit: oregoncoastscenic.org







