Hinkle, Oregon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hinkle, Oregon
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 Hinkle, Oregon
Location in Oregon
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| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Umatilla |
| Elevation | 620 ft (190 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Area code(s) | 458 and 541 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1136381 |
Hinkle is a small, undeveloped area in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It's not a city with its own government. Instead, it's a community located along the Umatilla River.
Hinkle is found in the northwestern part of Umatilla County. It is south of a town called Hermiston. Major roads like Interstate 84 and U.S. Route 30 are nearby.
This community is very important for trains. It's home to a large train facility. This facility is called the Union Pacific Railroad's (UP) Hinkle Locomotive Service and Repair Facility. It's part of a bigger area known as the Hinkle Freight Classification Yard.
History of Hinkle
Hinkle started as a special place where train tracks met. This meeting point is called a railway junction. Here, a shorter train route, or "cutoff," connected back to the main line. This main line belonged to the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. It ran from Umatilla all the way to Huntington.
How Hinkle Got Its Name
The cutoff train route was built in 1915. A train station was needed where this new route joined the main line. A local leader named Joseph T. Hinkle helped with this. He was a well-known lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician in the area. Mr. Hinkle sold some land to the railroad for the station. Because of his help, the station was named in his honor.
For many years, Hinkle was a quiet, small place. But things changed in 1951. A large project called the McNary Dam was finished. This dam caused the old train tracks to be covered by water. So, the Union Pacific Railroad had to move its tracks.
The Hinkle Train Yard
When the tracks were moved, Union Pacific built a huge train yard at Hinkle. This is called a classification yard. It's a place where train cars are sorted and put together. They expanded this yard even more starting in 1976. This made Hinkle a very important hub for trains.
Passenger Trains at Hinkle
From 1977 to 1997, Hinkle was a stop for passenger trains. These trains were part of Amtrak's Pioneer route. The station code for Hinkle was HIK. Before that, Hinkle was also a stop on the Union Pacific's City of Portland route. This route offered connections to Chicago. Train workers used the code UK for the station.
