It ran 50.2 miles (80.8 km) from Hines north to Seneca, which is on the edge of the Malheur National Forest,[1][2] over a total of 19 trestles.

[3] The railroad's history began when the Edward Hines Lumber Company, having won a bid for a timber sale in the Malheur National Forest east of Seneca,[4] purchased the Malheur Railroad and its corresponding sawmill, both incomplete, from the Fred Herrick Lumber Company for $400,000 in 1928 (equivalent to $7,097,674 in 2023).

[9][10] By the end of 1929, the company had begun to harvest and transport ponderosa pine from the Bear Creek valley.

[5][7] The sawmill began processing logs in January 1930 and was envisioned to produce 120 million board feet (280,000 m3) of lumber each year.

[2][4][9] The mill in Hines supplied wood products for the Allies' efforts in World War II.

[4] By December 1981, demand for lumber had sharply decreased; the company was transporting logs at only one quarter of capacity and was employing just 12 workers for the railroad.