Watch a livestream of this month's Windows in Time presentation in a group. Viewers will be able to ask questions of the presenter via chat, faciliatated by library staff.

The little railroad, running east into the mountains from the growing town of Medford, had high hopes. Incorporated in 1905, it was initially planned to serve the Crater Lake tourist trade. In 1910, plans were made to connect it to Klamath Falls, but the railroad never got beyond Butte Falls. Jerry Hellinga relates the colorful and little-known story of a railroad that, at its inception, had great expectations, but through failures and reincarnations became a workhorse of the timber industry in Southern Oregon.

Jerry Hellinga is a retired forester. For almost 40 years he was involved in steam tourist railroad operations as a volunteer fireman and engineer. He is currently Treasurer and Chief Mechanical Officer of the Southern Oregon Railway Historical Society.

The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services.