Mount Hood Railroad Sold to Investment Group

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:40 pm

https://railfan.com/oregons-mount-hood- ... ent-group/

Quote:

Oregon’s Mount Hood Railroad has been sold to a local investment firm. The tourist railroad and freight operator had been placed into receivership back in 2019 when its previous owner, Iowa Pacific Holdings, defaulted on a $5 million loan.

More at the link, no paywall.

psa188 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2022 3:08 pm

This is good news. I rode their brunch train about a decade ago, before Iowa Pathetic messed things up.

junior · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:38 am

Didn't Iowa Pacific sell off most of the original MtHood RR equipment several years back?....seem to recall seeing the former SP cars on one if the liquidation sites.

JDLX · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:06 pm

Yes, equipment could be an issue for the new owner. Iowa Pacific pledged basically all rolling stock on the railroad as collateral for one of its many loans, and when they inevitably defaulted a bankruptcy court awarded the creditor all the equipment. They are the party offering it for sale. The lender a year or two ago sold both of the MH locomotives, but the railroad was able to continue operations with a rebuilt GP35 (I think) either leased or purchased from Western Rail. They recently added a second leased GP7u, formerly from the BG&CM. I don't think any of the passenger cars have been sold, but if they are the road could be in a bind to continue tourist operations.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

wesp · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:01 pm

Was LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN in the fleet at Mount Hood? It and a few other IP cars went to Reading Blue Mountain & Northern.

Wesley

JDLX · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:13 pm

While Lookout Mountain had been on the Mount Hood many years ago, it had long since moved on to other operations.

A quick check of the Ozark Mountain website shows the passenger cars on MH that had been on the property are now all shown as having been sold.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Adam Phillips · **Posted:** Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:42 am

Lookout Mountain was in Alamosa, CO, in 2021.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:05 am

Lookout Mountain (ex-Southern Railway No. 1595, a 60-seat heavyweight coach rebuilt by Southern as a 44-seat open-air car) was one of the eleven cars acquired by the Reading & Northern last June, and is now their number 20.

p51 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:52 pm

Hadn't been there since steam was running there, but have they fixed all the washout damages?

wesp wrote:

Was LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN in the fleet at Mount Hood? It and a few other IP cars went to Reading Blue Mountain & Northern.

Yeah, the former classic SRR steam excursion car was there for a while. I got to ride on it, with former Grand Canyon # 18 for the brief time they had steam there, coupled to it. It was one of those, "Ride it while you can" moments, as I went down there to ride it with my wife as soon as I heard about it. They pulled the plug on steam very soon afterward.