Pictorial history of local railroads puts timber, coal in focus

Steam railroads have captured the imagination of the world for 200 years, ever since the first one was built in Shropshire, England back in 1802, 70 years before Coos County received its first steam locomotive. But locomotives continued to arrive in Coos County for another 70 years, most of them by ship because Coos County rail lines did not connect to the outside world until 1916. By 1930 there had been at least 28 different short-line railroads in the county, most of which had come and gone by that time. Some of the locomotives burned wood, but most burned coal from the local mines. On June 16, 1972, 100 years after Coos County received its first locomotive, the last log-train left the town of Powers on its way to the log-dump at Coos Bay, 45 miles to the north, marking the end of an era.