Will Kolm's Work for the Railroad in Coos County

Will Kolm moved to Coos County in order to take a job with The Coos Bay, Roseburg & Eastern Railroad (CBR&E) as a night watchman in 1908. The railroad (CBR&E) ran 26 miles from Marshfield south to Coquille and Myrtle Point. (It never got to Roseburg.) The navigation part of the company was the Portland and Coos Bay Steamship Line which operated the coastal steamers Breakwater and Czarina. W. F. Miller was superintendent of the railroad and the agent for the steamship line at Marshfield.

According to a postcard sent to his brother Fred, Will was an agent for both ships, probably in 1909.

Agent for the Breakwater

Two years later, after returning to Oregon from Nebraska, Will became an agent for the Portland and Coos Bay Steamship Line and Wells Fargo "while the regular agent is off on vacation", based in North Bend.

Will was an agent for the Portland and Coos Bay line from October 24, 1912 to January 1, 1913. He worked a number of positions for the CBR&E, working in Coquille and Myrtle Point, possibly as a station agent.

The CBR&E became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1915 and the line from Eugene to Marshfield was opened in 1916. Will was then working for the SP and progressed satisfactorily. For a time he was a clerk and messenger aboard the mail car attached to passenger trains. His run was from Coquille north through Marshfield to Reedsport and return.

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The Move to Beaver Hill

The SP branch line from Eugene to Coos Bay was completed in August 1916. Then SP went through a consolidation and because Will’s seniority was short he took a job as merchandise storekeeper for the Beaver Hill Coal Company, which was also owned by SP.

The family moved to Beaver Hill, a company town where there were no streets nor roads. Much of the line from Beaver Hill to the coal mine crossed a large marsh on a trestle, which is probably why there were no roads into Beaver Hill. What would have been the main street was a rutted area with railroad tracks. The company store, one-room school, and houses were located around the mine tipple. Their home was the best in town, on a hill overlooking the mine and railroad tracks. Even at that it was bare and rugged. Water was piped in for washing purposes, but drinking water had to be carried from a spring in a wooded area using a demijohn bottle with a wicker covering. Coal for heat and cooking was often salvaged from around the railroad tracks.

Will ran the large company store, which sold “everything under the sun” and was also the post office. He had to use a hand-powered speeder to go the 2 miles to Beaver Hill Junction to meet passenger trains and exchange mail bags. Young Lee sometimes rode with his father and was thrilled by it. Connected to the store was a large two-story boarding house for single miners with a dining room where Leland often played with other children. Company policy did not permit alcoholic drinks, so the miners bought and drank a lot of vanilla extract because of its high alcohol content.

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On to Portland

Will found that the policies of SP were repugnant to him. After arguing with the Superintendent he was out of a job, with no resources. The family moved back to Marshfield, where Nellie’s parents still lived. Will found work in Portland, and the Kolm family moved there in 1917.

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