General contractor began work on the -designed Oregon Rail Heritage Center in November and expect to be finished in July. The 19,200-square-foot project, being built near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Southeast Portland, will house three historic locomotives and one car. In addition to space for working on the equipment, the building will contain offices, a conference room, and a public viewing and interpretive area.

The post Photos: Construction of Oregon rail museum appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Crews from will break ground Oct. 21 for the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation’s Enginehouse and heritage center. The new center, when it opens late next spring, will house historic three steam engines that have been cared for and rehabilitated by the foundation.

The ORHF had been waiting to break ground on the building until enough funds were raised to move the project forward. Capital Campaign Manager Bill Failing said that the project is now $1.1 million away from having all the funds it needs to construct and service the loan on the $5.5 million project.

“We still have more to do, but we have raised the lion’s share and we’re able to cover all our expenses,” Failing said. “We’ve gone a long way.”

The new enginehouse will be 19,200 square feet. In the first phase of funding and construction of the -designed building, crews will make a building to house the engines. Later, when the foundation has more funding, the center will have interpretive exhibits about the engines and their rehabilitation.

“Visitors and onlookers will be able to see the work in progress, and get up close and get a sense of what behemoths the engines are,” Failing said. “They’re a marvel of machinery.”

The engines are currently housed at the Brooklyn Roundhouse owned by Union Pacific, but Union Pacific needs that building for expansion next year, and the site is not accessible for public viewing.

The post Groundbreaking set for Oregon Enginehouse and Rail Heritage Center appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Update June 27, 2011 2:52 p.m.: Portland City Council unanimously passed the package of ordinances restructuring the loan and securing the new site for the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation engine house at its Wednesday afternoon session.

At the meeting, representatives from ORHF, OMSI, the local neighborhood association and the city thanked each other and expressed support for the mission of preserving the steam locomotives.

“There is something about trains that inspires romance, nostalgia and a sense of awe,” said Comissioner Dan Saltzman, before casting an “aye” vote on one of the ORHF ordinances.

Construction on the engine house is still slated to begin this fall.

The clock is ticking for the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. The group manages upkeep of three historic steam locomotives, which were donated by the city’s parks department in 1958 and have been housed for more than 25 years in the Brooklyn Roundhouse owned by Union Pacific. But Union Pacific needs that site for expansion, and the locomotives will be booted from the roundhouse by the end of the year.

The foundation has a plan, however. For the past two years, it has been working to raise money for a new engine house to be built near OMSI. Portland City Council on Wednesday will review a package of ordinances that would move the project forward. Ideally, general contractor Lorentz Bruun Construction would start construction on a new rail house by mid-September, and the locomotives would be at their new home at the beginning of next year.

But the situation isn’t simple. After identifying a site near OMSI to house the trains, the foundation in 2009 secured a $980,000 loan from the city to purchase the land. Then, about a year ago, the foundation learned that the site it had purchased would be needed for construction of TriMet‘s Portland-to-Milwaukie light-rail project. Part of the package of ordinances would solidify an exchange: The foundation would trade its initial site for an adjacent, slightly larger parcel owned by TriMet.

The council also will consider a request from the foundation to restructure its loan. The note is due in 2012, but the foundation would like to adjust the payment schedule so it would have until 2016 to repay.

Supporters of the project are hoping that City Council will move it forward.

“We’re crossing our fingers that there aren’t any red flags,” said Emily Hicks, a policy coordinator for Nick Fish, commissioner in charge of the parks department.

Because the ordinances will be introduced on an “emergency” timeline and Mayor Sam Adams will not be in attendance, passage will require a unanimous decision by the council.

“If we don’t pass these ordinances this week we’re not sure the locomotives will get to their new home in time,” Hicks said.

The new rail house, designed by Hennebery Eddy Architects, would be a big step up for the locomotives. The Union Pacific rail house is deteriorating, Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation President Doyle McCormack said.

“It’s a ramshackle old building falling down around our ears,” he said.

Also, the site is isolated: The locomotives aren’t on accessible public display and are seen mostly during events like the popular “Holiday Express” train ride, which served 10,000 people in two weekends last year.

A new building would house the three locomotives so that they could be viewed between events. The foundation would like to eventually add a full interpretive center and a gift shop. The initial phase would include some interpretive exhibits and space for visitors to watch restoration work on the locomotives.

“People can see the engines, hear them hiss and see the work being done. People can realize how big they are,” said Bill Failing, chairman of the foundation’s capital campaign.

Failing believes a new center would be popular among school groups, and would benefit from proximity to OMSI and a new light-rail station.

“With all the transportation infrastructure coming in, it’s going to be really easy to visit,” he said.

Failing says the organization has raised $2.8 million, but approximately $350,000 more is needed before ground can be broken on the new building. The total cost to complete the building and the interpretive center is $5.2 million, McCormack said.

“We will continue fundraising mode until we’ve accomplished all of our phases,” he said.

The post Historic locomotive house gets OK from Portland City Council appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Backing up a nearly 70-year-old steam locomotive is a challenge, according to Doyle McCormack, president of the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. So when the foundation moves its three historic steam locomotives to a new facility near OMSI, a 100-foot-diameter turntable will join them.

“Imagine a giant lazy Susan,” said Doyle McCormack, president of the ORHF. “Steam engines aren’t like diesel engines. They like to go forward and that’s about it. When you go on a trip, you have to turn it around on the turntable.”

Planning new digs for the massive engines has been a challenge for staff at Shiels Obletz Johnsen and Hennebery Eddy Architects due to the size of the turntable, the facilities and the trains themselves.

After ORHF agreed to swap sites with TriMet for a new site beneath the Martin Luther King Jr. viaduct, Kim Knox of Shiels Obletz Johnsen had to make sure everything would fit. The three-acre site is sandwiched between a planned east-side streetcar line and the future Portland-to-Milwaukie light-rail line. The site also will need to accommodate the turntable, a 19,000-to-20,000-square-foot maintenance building and an interpretive facility.

“Our investigation so far has been to see if we can fit a maintenance structure on the site and if there’s room left over for the turntable and a public interpretive facility,” Knox said.

Hennebery Eddy Architects has completed pre-development design for the site, and in January will begin design of the maintenance facility. Principal Tim Eddy says that while certain elements at the site – such as light-rail and streetcar tracks – will benefit the facility in the future, planning around them involves a lot of moving parts.

“The site is a triangle, and getting all the pieces to fit is a challenge,” Eddy said. “It sits in the middle of lots of infrastructure. There are active rail lines on all sides. We’re trying to provide the ability to move the locomotives on the turntable with their turning radius constraints.”

Because financing for the $3.5 million facility has not been secured yet, McCormack says the plan is for a phased development. The new maintenance building is considered the most pressing need. The ORHF needs to have its engines and related equipment relocated by January 2012 so that Union Pacific can redevelop that site.

“This is not a good climate to ask for money, and I think that raising the money will be the biggest challenge,” McCormack said. “The most immediate need is a building to move the engines to. We don’t want them open to vandals and the elements.”

After the maintenance facility is constructed, the plan is to build an interpretive facility on the site. First, Eddy plans to design a visibility element for the maintenance building so that the public can check out the locomotives.

“We want the opportunity for people to know what’s going on,” Eddy said. “We’re working with ORHF on how the public can do that before the interpretive facility is constructed. This facility will be far more visible and accessible than the original.”

Construction on the project will begin in mid-2011.

There is one simple element to the move, according to McCormack.

“When we move the engines, we’ll just drive them down there,” he said. “They do have wheels under them you know.”

The post For new locomotive facility, site is a real squeeze appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.