The Southern Pacific was going to abandon this line because of the extreme maintenance cost and lack of business. The line was purchased for Tillamook Bay with  Lottery dollars. In 1992, 1996 and 2007 there were 100 year floods in the watershed. Tillamook Bay could not come up with their 25% of the estimated $57 million to cover the 2007 flood damage. This did not include repairs to the tunnels and trestles. In the past 24 years there have been 3-100 year floods. Much of the flood damage was caused by over harvest of timber and poorly built log roads. There will be future floods. They will cause heavy damage to any trails that are developed along the Salmonberry.