MHME: Club Operations

The railroad has three crew districts: Spokane to John Day, John Day to Clackamas, and Clackamas to Eugene. Passenger train crews operate into Portland via the Southern Pacific on trackage rights.

Passenger operations consisted of two daily trains each way, running between the SP&S connection at Spokane and the west end of the line at Eugene. The first train was the Pioneer, which saw #1 leaving Portland at 6:10am and #2 leaving eastbound at 4:30 pm. The second train, a mail train, left Portland at 12:05pm, arriving in Spokane around 8pm. A westbound return trip would leave Spokane around midnight.

Freight operations saw regular freights working between Clackamas and Bridgeport, with two or three trains per day continuing on to Spokane. Some trains destined for California will take the cutoff at Riveston to head down to an SP connection at Salem. A daily train runs between Clackamas and Estacada on the Estacada Branch. Locals were based out of Bridgeport and Clackamas and operated as turns. A local unit was also stationed at John Day. From Bridgeport one local would head to North Powder while another would work the customers in Bridgeport itself. From Clackamas, a local would work at Riveston, one at Milwaukie and another would work to Shaniko and back.

The Portland Traction would run a local from Estacada into Clackamas using trackage rights. This local interchange would alternate years with PTC crews providing power and crews one year, and the Mount Hood providing them the next.

The Club uses a system of individual car cards and train orders to move rolling stock around the railroad to the supported industries and towns.

The Club holds monthly operating sessions on the 4th Thursday of the month beginning at 6:30 PM and on the 4th Saturday of the month beginning at noon.