Tipton Station on the SVRy

In 1904 as construction on the Sumpter Valley Ry. moved farther west, Greenwood was established as a station at MP51. This was at the second of three summits the railroad would have to cross on its way to the John Day Valley. Greenwood may seem like an unlikely place for a station being on the top of a mountain, but it was the nearest connecting point to roads leading to the rich Greenhorn mining district, where there was substantial activity at the time. If the location Greenwood does not ring a bell among my Sumpter Valley enthusiast friends, that is because the initial station name was changed within a few years to Tipton. Alas, the Greenhorn mining boom faded away and by the late 19-teens based on surviving railroad records, the depot was no longer staffed. It however remained in place till Oct. of 1936 when it was retired. Likely it served most of its years as an unmanned depot like several others on the SVRy where passengers from nearby areas could wait for the train under cover and freight and mail could be picked up. In this shot of the Tipton depot we are looking timetable west. A siding runs behind the depot with the mainline in front. Note the track diverging to the right from the mainline. This is the west end of a balloon track. In the modern day, Hwy. 7 overlays the depot area, but the balloon track is still obvious and parts of it have the remains of ties in place. The scan is from the SVRR Archive.