Another GREAT picture. Kid in doorway is classic as he sneaks into the picture; but no dog. What is the purpose of that tall pole?

Arlen Sheldrake on 28th April 2015 @ 9:32am

I didn't even notice the kid in the doorway.

I think the pole has a dipole antenna on it for shortwave radio.

Arthur on 28th April 2015 @ 10:48am

Is there a name to this architectural style? A number of orchard homes are of the same style, color, wide overhangs and supports.

nels on 28th April 2015 @ 11:51am

I see what looks like two insulators on the top of the pole so I would guess that it is a power pole.

Longshot on 28th April 2015 @ 12:32pm

Same insulators the forest service used on their early phone lines. I would guess phone rather than power as power lines this close together would be likely to foul in windy weather.

Kenn on 28th April 2015 @ 2:24pm

If you click on the "depot" tag", there is another photo of the Parkdale station with more information about its history.

L.E. on 28th April 2015 @ 2:45pm

The insulator configuration on the top is probably for a telephone "farmer line" - typically 10-party. If you Google "telephone farmer lines" and select images, you'll see 2 or 3 images that illustrate this. We still had plenty of these in service when I was the Plant Manager in The Dalles in 1968. Two shorts and a long (or any combination thereof) and you could hear half a dozen people who were on the same line pick up and listen in. The actual parties that were connected had to be pretty careful of what they said! You had to yell, because any more than a couple of parties picking up would denigrate the signal pretty badly. An early low-tech form of hacking?

Jerry on 28th April 2015 @ 3:24pm

Does anybody know if there's been a book written about the Mt. Hood Railroad? It's described or mentioned in a lot of historical documents, but I've never seen anything published that's dedicated to it. It played a big role in the evolution of the Eccles interests in the area.

Jerry on 28th April 2015 @ 3:28pm

Chat lines of today had nothing on on the old 10 party lines

Buzz on 28th April 2015 @ 3:39pm

Jerry; local author Jessie Burkhardt has a book called Railroads of the Columbia Gorge, my copy was bought at the local book store in Hood River.

Jim Gray on 28th April 2015 @ 5:14pm

The building style would most likely be classified as Arts and Crafts which would be appropriate for the date. Love it!

Lynne Holmes on 28th April 2015 @ 8:09pm

Interesting that it appears the wood shingles on the roof are not straight across the roof line - sway some. It seems a window near the boy reads " hotel ".

Steve r on 28th April 2015 @ 9:44pm

I was guessing power lines due to the height of the pole. Phone lines didn't tend to be that high off the ground. Also not at all sure a remote lightly settled place like Parkdale would have had telephone service in 1912.

Longshot on 28th April 2015 @ 10:39pm

Book: Switchback to the Timber by Clem L. Pope....a history of the Mount Hood Railroad and the Oregon Lumber Company. Published 1992, second printing 1994 by the Old Forester Publishing Company, Parkdale, Oregon. I found mine on Amazon last year. Pretty well done, binding sucks. Soft cover, 119 pages.

Arlen Sheldrake on 28th April 2015 @ 11:27pm

Thanks Jim and Arlen. I couldn't imagine that there hadn't been book(s) written, with as many railroad buffs as there are around.

Jerry on 29th April 2015 @ 9:24am