Historic Hood River
White Rail/ Brown Rail
Notes
Have you ever noticed some of the railing along the Columbia River Highway State Trail is brown and some is white? That is because of the language of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, which governs all sorts of details of construction in the National Scenic Area. The Act protects both historic and scenic values equally. When they come into conflict, a balance must be struck. In this case it was determined that where the trail follows the original alignment of the Columbia River Highway, the railing should match the color and appearance of the historic rail, which as you can see here was white. Where the trail traverses a new alignment (usually because I-84 has covered the original) the scenic values take precedence, so the railing is painted brown to blend in with the landscape more effectively.
Similarly, while the railing is supposed to look like the historic rail, modern highway safety rules create standards for how the railing acts when a car hits it. In sections of the historic highway open to cars, the “old fashioned” looking white rails are often modern engineered railing made to look like the historic rail. If you look closely you’ll find steel elements added to the wood rail to meet modern standards as well as can be engineered.
L.E.
Interesting information.
jnails
I had been wondering – thanks for the info. I rather dislike the white and had considered it a modern choice and a distraction from the wonderful
scenery.
I wish the design of that trail had chosen more placements away from the interstate. I consider the
proximity to the freeway and the breathing of the fumes not to mention noise to be a serious issue for
the otherwise fantastic concept. Following the original route 30 even up and over east of Cascade Locks would have been a better choice in my opinion, especially since it leads to the first campground going east.
jnails
Except for the telephone posts this picture is a beautiful composition much like the Japanese nature scenes which always has a human in it to compare nature’s enormity vs. the fragile human.
Melody Shellman
Nice observation, jnails! I like that aesthetic.
Also, St. Peter’s Dome is so cool in this pic!
Pat A
Great picture.
I can see from window at my house it’s white. I know it’s original roadway and was 1883 Railroad bed.
And the modern guardrail version is backed with heavy steel plate, obviously the original railing of wood only could not withstand modern traffic.