Chugging along 5mi of track between Sumpter and McEwen, this historic narrow-gauge train commemorates the Stump Dodger, a railroad founded in 1890 to haul timber out of the mountains to Baker City. As the railroad grew, it carried passengers and other cargo to a network of communities as far away as Prairie City in the John Day Valley. Unable to compete with highway traffic for passengers and freight, it ceased operating in 1947. The restoration is an ongoing project, done mainly by volunteers who have re-laid rails and collected rolling stock from other restoration projects in Colorado and Alaska. Tracks run on the tailings of the Sumpter Valley Dredge, which literally upended the valley floor. The mess has never been cleaned up, but not all is devastation. Narrow sloughs between rows of piled gravel provide habitat for waterbirds, beavers and other animals. Nature trails varying from less than a mile to several miles start at the depot and lead through this odd but rewarding wildlife sanctuary.