Portland City Council has voted to approve loaning a million dollars to the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation to support development of a new storage facility and museum near OMSI. This facility will house the three city-owned steam locomotives that currently reside at the Brooklyn Rail Yard.
Current expansion plans by the Union Pacific Railroad require the steam locomotives to move from their current home by January 2012.
Although it is sad to see the locomotives move out of the Brooklyn Neighborhood, it is exciting to see the development of a new interactive rail museum just a few blocks away from our northern border. The new museum will be a real showcase for rail history, and a major redevelopment for the industrial land located south of OMSI.
