UP's Incredible Cascade Line

One of the most remarkable mountain grades in the West is Union Pacific's line through Willamette and Pengra passes in the Cascades southeast of Eugene, Oregon.  For 42 miles the grade on this former SP line ranges from 1.5 to 1.7%.   This is the longest sustained helper grade on the UP system today, although the helpers now are radio controlled distributed power units.   The scenery on this line is easily the equal to that on Tehachapi or Cajon. This video shows the trains and operations on UP's remarkable line through the Cascades in July of 2002.  88 minutes.