The Portland Special: A direct connection to the city
One of the most interesting examples of Southern Pacific's involvement was the establishment of a special passenger train known as the Portland Special.
As Camp Adair expanded, existing bus services struggled to accommodate the thousands of soldiers stationed at the post. Weekend travel became a serious transportation problem. Bus companies found themselves unable to handle the demand for both local transportation and the hundreds of soldiers wanting to travel to Portland.
According to the March 4, 1943, edition of the Camp Adair Sentry, bus companies discontinued their Camp Adair-to-Portland service and reassigned buses to local routes. This created the need for another transportation solution.
The Army's post transportation officer worked with Southern Pacific officials to establish the Portland Special. Making the service possible required the railroad to divert equipment and manpower, as well as rearrange existing passenger and freight schedules to accommodate the additional train.
The newspaper provides an unusually detailed account of the service:
The train departed Camp Adair on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
It arrived at Portland's Union Station at approximately 6:00 p.m.
The return trip departed Portland on Sunday at 8:15 p.m.
It arrived back at Camp Adair around midnight.
Round-trip fare was just $2.00.
Tickets were sold through the military divisions and service organizations. They were also available at the Southern Pacific station at Wellsdale, identified in the newspaper as being near First Street South and Avenue J.
The Portland Special was an important convenience for soldiers who wanted to spend their weekends visiting Portland, enjoying recreation, shopping, or getting away from military life for a short time.
Southern Pacific and the movement of military personnel
Passenger service was only one part of the railroad's wartime importance.
Camp Adair was home to four infantry divisions during the war:
96th Infantry Division – Deadeyes
104th Infantry Division – Timberwolves
70th Infantry Division – Trailblazers
91st Infantry Division – Powder River
These divisions trained at Camp Adair before moving on to additional training locations and eventually overseas deployments.
The movement of military personnel on this scale required careful transportation planning. Railroads were essential to America's wartime mobilization, moving troops and military supplies across the country. Southern Pacific itself experienced enormous wartime traffic increases, with passenger traffic in 1944 reaching five times its 1939 level.
The Portland Special is a reminder that Camp Adair's history was not just about soldiers training for combat. It was also about the thousands of transportation workers, railroad employees, civilian workers, and local residents who helped keep the installation running. Without dependable transportation, moving and supporting an army of this size would have been considerably more difficult.