If you loved The Goose and want to help with our efforts to memorialize your memory with a mural, please donate to the cause! We have donation jars at: The Coast Fork Brew station and Feed Store, City Library, All American Market, Covered Bridge Brewery and the Cottage Grove Sentinel, or donate online.  Donate Now

The Cottage Grove Historical Society Goose Mural Committee is currently working to raise funds to install a mural of the Goose. Debra Monsive chairs this committee which includes Suzanne Huebner-Sannes, Lloyd Williams, Dana Merryday, and Gerald Santana. The Blue Goose holds a lot of nostalgia for many in Cottage Grove. The train was a fun part of holidays and summer weekends. While the rail line was used regularly for transportation of goods and products from the mills it made for a leisurely scenic trip to the mountains when the steam engine was brought out and fired up.

Built in 1914, The Goose, or the old Number 19 steam locomotive, as bought by the Bohemia Lumber Co. and Willis Kyle, who jointly owned Oregon Pacific and Eastern Railway. They ran the excursion train from 1971 to 1988. The Village Green Corp. supported these efforts with a depot at their resort property.

The Route

Starting at what is now Bohemia Park the spur line ran from the main North South rail line up the Row River Valley traveling along the north side of Dorena lake. Originally it ran all the way up to Rujada. By the time the excursion train started in 1971 the line had been shortened to reach just past the Bohemia Mill Site. In the 1990's the rail line was removed and the trail was paved to make the Row River Trail. As you walk or bike along the trail listen very carefully especially near the trestle bridges and road crossings and you might just hear that old steam engine whistle.

Early Trains

The spur line was originally constructed to support logging, milling, and mining efforts.Taking lumber to the mill, ore off the mountain, and transporting workers to and from town. Residents were also able to access the train to get to and from town. The Oregon Southern and Eastern, or OS&E was known as the Old Slow and Easy, and brought logs to the mills and lumber from the mills to the Southern Pacific main line. 

Earlier Excursion Rides

The Goose Excursion train was not the first excursion train to run these tracks. A July 19, 1959 article in the Eugene Register Guard covers an excursion event with the Old Number 1 steam engine. Highlights of the trip included a tour of the mill site, a tour of the mining district, an "ambitious and loud old time band" playing along the route, a ten-minute water show by the Cottage Grove Boat Club, and a staged robbery and kidnapping on the return trip.