Railroad Bridges, Mt. Hood, Portland Riverfront

PhotoID: S35MM0FILM00058

Railroad Bridges: Railroad Bridge 5.1 lies just upriver from the St. Johns Bridge on the Willamette. Seven other bridges were built in Portland before this one. Technically, because these others have been replaced, this is the oldest surviving structure standing across the Willamette in the Portland area.

The Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge was built over the Willamette in 1910, upriver from the Sellwood Bridge, about midway between the Sellwood and Oregon City Bridges. I think this bridge has a new owner - yes, I should update the name...

Mt. Hood: Mt. Hood, in the Cascade Mountain range, was named after British Admiral Samuel Hood in 1792. Aside from being a popular skiing destination an hour from Portland and an eye-catching backdrop in the Portland skyline, Mt. Hood is in fact an active volcano, as all of the major peaks of the Cascades are. Of course, Hood's sister to the north, Mt. St. Helens, had its most recent major eruption in 1980. Geologists monitor all the cascades including Mt. Hood for volcanic activity. Someday, maybe not in our lifetimes, Mt. Hood will erupt again, but who knows when?