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The route I have heard is similar to the one mentioned regarding Newport, OR. It got into Southern Idaho and to Ontario, OR, and thence followed the Malhuer Canyon to Burns. From Burns it would have cut across the high plains towards the vicinity of Bend, and then up over Santiam (Hogg) Pass and down into Albany & Corvallis, thence over the Coast Range and terminating at Yaquina City, south of Newport on the coast. Two segments were built, two were not. [b]Wyoming to Ontario Segment[/b] As far as I know, no surveys were made and no route was ever graded on this section. [b]The Malhuer Segment.[/b] The segment from Ontario to Burns was surveyed but not built by CNW or any other affiliated firm. The fledgling Oregon Pacific layed a track about 1/4 mile long in the canyon and alledgedly pulled a boxcar back and forth with mules to establish prior use. Later it was to become part of James Hill's "Boise & Western", connecting to the Oregon Trunk at Bend and running to Ontario, then into Southern Idaho to break the UP monopoly there. In the "reconciliation" between the northern lines and UP following Harriman's death in 1913, the surveys were given up and turned over to UP, who built the line as far as Burns. The Burns branch of the UP was operated until the late 80s. It was turned over to a shortline, who operated it briefly, but after flooding damage, the line was scrapped, and now only is a short stub out of Ontario. The segment from Burns to Bend may or may not have been surveyed, but was never graded or built in any way. [b]Santiam or Hogg Pass[/b] Bend to the summit over the Cascades, and into the upper Willamette Valley. This line was never constructed. However, Colonel Hogg, proprietor of the OP, did try to establish prior rights on the pass, which he named for himself, by the same trick he used in the Malheur, with a short segment of track, a boxcar hauled in by pack mule and reassembled there, and pulled back and forth by the same mules. Although the line was never built, later the Shevlin Hixon Lumbeer Company did build a line from Bend to Sisters, on the eastern approach to the pass. It was removed sometime in the mid century. [b]Western Oregon Segment[/b] Beginning at Idanha, a spec on the map on what is now US 20, and which is now below the waters of the Detroit Lake Resevoir. It ran down the valley of the Santiam River and into Albany, OR, and then cut across to Corvallis, OR, and thence over the Coast Range to Yaquina City, a small railroad owned port opposite Newport, OR. The line was built by the many incarnations of the Oregon Pacific that Col. Hogg ran. Later it became part of the SP. The line at the extreme west end near Yaquina City was pulled up around that time, cutting it back to Toledo, OR, just up river of the bay. A few small parts were abandoned, but most of it remained intact until the 50's, when the upper end was flooded beyond Mill City. The segment remaining towards Mill City is operated by the Albany & Eastern, but with light traffic and some recent damage to a bridge, it is now in danger of abandonment. The segment west of Albany to Corvallis and Toledo is now the Toledo District of the Portland & Western Railroad, and probably handles more tonnage than it has in many decades, primarily chips to and paper from the Georgia Pacific mill at Toledo.
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