Home > Oregon > McCredie Springs vicinity > Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Cruzatte Tank, Milepost 545.4, McCredie Springs, Lane County, OR
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Item Title
Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Cruzatte Tank, Milepost 545.4, McCredie Springs, Lane County, OR
LocationMilepost 545.4,
McCredie Springs vicinity, OR
Find maps of McCredie Springs, OR
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER OR-96
Significance: The Southern Pacific Railroad Cascade Route, built as the Natron Cutoff between Black Butte, California and Natron, Oregon was one of a series of major rebuildings and realignments of the original Central Pacific Railroad. Begun in 1905 under railroad magnate E.H. Harriman to replace the original Central Pacific route over the Siskiyou Mountains into Oregon, the Natron Cutoff had to overcome both natural and political obstacles. Stalled by government anti-trust lawsuits against Harriman, by World War I and the ensuing federal takeover of the nation's railroads, the Natron Cutoff finally overcame the rugged Cascade Mountains of Oregon to reach completion in 1927, at an ultimate cost of nearly $40 million. For the purpose of the current project, the Natron Cutoff was found likely to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance under Criterion A for its significance in engineering, transportation history, and the economic history of central Oregon, and in the development of the West, and under criterion B for its association with E.H. Harriamn. The Natron Cutoff's period of significance is 1905 to 1945, from the beginning of construction in 1905, through the years of its role in the economic development of the central Oregon, to the conclusion of the railroad's achievements in World War II. Built in ca. 1927, Cruzatte Tank is a contributive element of this property.
Subjects
Wooden BuildingsWater Tanks
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. Cruzatte Tank, view to southwest, 210mm lens. Undoubtedly one of the last wooden water tanks left on the former Southern Pacific system, the Cruzatte Tank would have been completed circa 1927 during the later construction phase of the Natron Cutoff. No longer in use, it originally supplied water to steam locomotives that stopped at Cruzatte Siding on the long climb up the grade from Oakridge to Cascade Summit. While not subject to effects from this undertaking, the Cruzatte Tank was recorded as a rare and increasingly ephemeral surviving representative of a Southern Pacific Common Standard 50,000 Gallon Wooden Water Tank, and as a contributor to the Southern Pacific Natron Cutoff.
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