Natron Cutoff

Railroad Shortcut From Eugene to California

By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian

The original railroad route south from Eugene, Oregon to California followed the Siskiyou Pass route on the Southern Pacific line. The Southern Pacific had reached Natron side station near Springfield, Oregon in 1891 and then extended south. It was determined that a shorter and more convenient route was needed across the Cascades. The Oregon Eastern Railway was a predecessor of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company that acquired or built most of the Natron line in northern California and southern Oregon.

This company surveyed a route from Natron to Chemult following closely the wagon route that latter became the Willamette Highway. Preliminary construction of the line began in 1905. The line heads southeast from Eugene, up the Cascades and over Pengra Pass, which is less than two miles from Willamette Pass.
.Construction began to Oakridge from Natron during 1910 and was completed May 1, 1912. The route was also graded to Pryor, approximately 5 miles east of Oakridge. At the same time, the California and Northeastern laid rails to Chiloquin, completing the line in 1911. Five months later the California and Northeastern sold out to Oregon Eastern Railway, and then to the Central Pacific. The CP completed the line to Kirk in 1912. The tracks in this area have very little curvature, since the terrain is fairly level. The tracks for the most part parallel current Highway 97 from Klamath Falls to Chemult.

On February 1, 1908, the US Government filed an anti-trust suit against the Harriman lines that ended up separating the Southern Pacific from the Union Pacific. It was originally intended to have a rail route to Ontario, Oregon but the breakup of the two lines caused a delay in construction and the line from Oakridge to Kirk became the “Natron Cutoff. In 1924, work progressed again. Crews worked north from Kirk, while another crew worked east out of Oakridge on the previously graded route to Pryor. By 1925, a gap between Pryor and Cascade Summit remained.

On August 7, 1926, the Cascades line was officially completed. SP’s general manager, J. Dyer, drove a golden spike to signify the event. A ceremony took place just a few miles east of Oakridge. September 1, 1926 saw the first freight traffic. Passenger traffic was halted until the spring of 1927 to allow proper settling of the new roadbed. This route became the primary route for trains to and from California. The new Cascade line was 25 miles shorter than the Siskiyou Line and encountered much easier grades.

The Pengra Pass route’s 44 miles (of constant grade is the longest anywhere on the former Southern Pacific system), including Donner Pass. The route has at least 22 tunnels, several snow sheds and multiple bridges across canyons. The Natron Cutoff is on the National Register of Historic Places, considered significant to the period 1905 to 1945.