Cottage Grove in Lane County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)
Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, April 11, 2026
1. Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon Marker
The last train passed through the Chambers Bridge in 1951. Over the next half century, the bridge began to slowly fall apart. By 2000, it had a distinct lean and in 2010, a January windstorm threatened to bring the tall structure tumbling down. Engineers warned that collapse was imminent. The Cottage Grove community responded immediately!
Built for Large Loads
The Chambers Bridge is the only remaining covered railroad bridge in Oregon. There are only eight covered railroad bridges left standing in the entire United States out of several hundred that once stood. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, when logging railroads laced the local mountains, these massive timber bridges—built tall to accommodate steam engines and extra stout to carry heavy loads of lumber—were fairly common sights. But as railroad logging waned, and new bridge technologies arrived, the old covered bridges began to disappear from the landscape.
Repair and rehabilitation were a complex process at Chambers Bridge. The bridge’s timber chords, decking, and corbels were in very bad shape. The damage was so great that the bridge could not be repaired
this page online
Fond Memories of the Bridge
When the Chambers Bridge was in use, the locomotives blew their whistles as they passed through at 5 p.m. This served as a local curfew, letting scores of neighborhood kids know it was time to head for home.
The covered bridge also offered a challenge to young thrill-seekers. When the train wasn’t there, kids would scamper across as a shortcut to and from the west riverbank. Sometimes the train would pull into the yard and stop, with several cars still extending back through the bridge. In this case, it was a daredevil challenge to crawl along the tracks, and underneath the cars, to cross the bridge.
Famous “Characters” of this Covered Bridge
The most frequent users of the Chambers Bridge weren’t people. Over the 25 years of the bridge’s working life, seven locomotives passed back and forth through its portals, busy with the never-ending work of hauling logs from mountain to mill on the J.H. Chambers and
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, April 11, 2026
2. Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon Marker
No. 1. Tiny but tough, this little engine was built by H.K. Porter, Inc. of Pittsburgh in 1891 and purchased by J.H. Chambers in 1912. Originally a 2-4-2T, she was converted by Chambers to a 0-4-0T and served for several years. (The numbers #-#-# count the leading wheels - driving wheels - trailing wheels. The suffix “T” indicates a steam locomotive with an on-board water tank.) “The Dinkey” helped build the railroad across the Coast Fork of the Willamette River to the timber of the Lorane Valley. The stack was later modified to be shorter so it could fit under the Chambers Covered Bridge.
No. 2. Ordered brand-new from the American Locomotive Company in New York, the sleek and powerful No. 2 was the pride of the Chambers operation. A 100-ton 2-6-2, she had a specially-modified stack, built shorter than usual so the exhaust would not endanger the covered bridge’s roof.
No. 4. In 1926, the great director and actor Bustor Keaton brought a crew to the Cottage Grove area to film “The General,” now considered one of the classics
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, April 11, 2026
3. Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon
1847 - James Chapin arrived on land near present day Cottage Grove, and was granted his donation land claim in 1851.
1850 - Donation Land Law passed, granted 320 acres to a single man and 640 acres to a married man for those who arrived by 1850.
1852 - Early Land Claims in present day Cottage Grove, J. Cochram and W. Shields.
1852 - First stage stop, Hawley.
1853 - First sawmill built at Dorena.
1858 - Gold discovered in Sharp Creek.
1862 - Homestead Act passed, land grab is on.
1863 - More gold is discovered in the Bohemia Mining District.
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Rehabilitation of the bridge was funded by a grant from the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program, 2010 Economic Stimulus Funds, and the City. Many local citizens “rounded up” their utility bills to donate to the City’s bridge fund.
Almost all the iron and 25% of the wood is original to the 1925 structure. One challenge of the rehabilitation was the great size of the original timbers. Special care was taken to find a local mill with the capacity to cut big lumber. Thank goodness, the natural resources available to build the bridge nearly one hundred years ago still exist in Oregon.
The new decking, although based on the old railroad bridge design, has been modernized and modified to support pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Erected by City
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, April 11, 2026
4. Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Bridges & Viaducts • Charity & Public Work • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1847.
Location. 43° 47.365′ N, 123° 4.167′ W. Marker is in Cottage Grove, Oregon, in Lane County. It can be reached from South River Road south of E Harrison Ave. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1231 S River Rd, Cottage Grove OR 97424, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It is also on the American Pacific Coast, in the Pacific Northwest, and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, in the Cascade Range, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A Man, a Mill, & a Bridge to Timber (here, next to this marker); Cottage Grove—Getting Established (here, next to this marker); Timber Town (here, next to this marker);
Photographed by Douglass Halvorsen, April 11, 2026
5. Last Covered Railroad Bridge in Oregon
Credits. This page was last revised on April 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 23, 2026, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 26 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 23, 2026, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
