P&W Railroad Swing Bridge #3 John Day River Road, Astoria, OR 97103

"This line was owned by the Spokane Portland & Seattle to haul commodities such as seafood, lumber & wood chips, and other vital resources. Then the P&W took ownership of this line. A big landslide between Wauna & Astoria halted trains from going in. P&W officials deemed that the line was useless since most of the major customers were east of Wauna, so they abandoned the Wauna-Astoria Portion. Every year washouts occur, and the line deteriorates. There is some bridges standing like this one, and there is also the original Astoria Passenger Depot, some old passenger cars at the end of the line, and the Astoria Freight Depot. Most of the trackage west of this bridge remains intact, and a small battery-powered trolley runs on the remaining track for $1."

"Railroad is in service to Wauna and between there and 26 miles to Astoria, the tracks are not used. A steam engine being restored in Astoria might one day use this route to Clatskanie."

"When the railroad was open they had a bridge tender there to open and close the swivel bridge for trains crossing the mouth of the John day river. We used to walk to Astoria on the railroad tracks from Swenson to Astoria the tender of the bridge would close the bridge so we could cross. It has since closed the train tracks are no longer operable. The Lewis and Clark explorer was the last train to use the railroad tracks it was a bicentennial the Explorer ran from Astoria to Portland and back October 2005"