In 1942, the Oregon & Northwestern Railroad was used to haul logs from the forests about 50 miles to the big mill at Hines, Oregon. Daily runs were a necessity - created by the war in Europe and the Pacific - to keep the mill running at capacity to fill the demand for Ponderosa Pine lumber.

One of the stipulations of government timber sales contracts was that the railroad must operate as a common carrier; therefore it was not uncommon to see cars of cattle from the big ranches in eastern Oregon moving to market in these logging trains.