Morning freight to Hillsboro. There's still a chill in the calm morning air as the crew of a beefy logging Mikado takes a cut of well-used freight cars up the SP Tillamook Branch, bound for Hillsboro, Oregon, just outside Portland. Of course, these days, the Tillamook Branch is no longer in service that far, but trackage now operated by the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad is theoretically usable all the way to Salmonberry, albeit with a few washouts to repair. Down through its history, this line has been difficult to maintain, due to the wet climate in the mountains just east of Oregon's coast.
