The Oregonian Railway was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: Oregon, Washington, p. 126
/ref> railroad in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

History

A group of Scot capitalists formed the Oregonian Railway Company, Limited after purchasing the bankrupt Dayton, Sheridan and Grande Ronde Railroad in 1879. The first changes made were to move the

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

terminal, on the

Yamhill River The Yamhill River is an tributary of the Willamette River, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of the South Yamhill River and the North Yamhill River about east of McMinnville, it drains part of the Northern Oregon Coast Rang ...

, to Fulquartz Landing on the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

. On the opposite bank of the Willamette, the railroad built Ray's Landing. This became the north terminus of the narrow gauge line on the east side of the Willamette valley. The line connected towns such as

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, Woodburn, Silverton, Brownsville, and

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

. The railroad also expanded the westside line south to reach Perrydale,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and Airlie. The stop at the end of the line was named after the

Earl of Airlie Earl of Airlie is a title of the peerage in Scotland created on 2 April 1639 for James Ogilvy, 7th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie, along with the title “Lord Ogilvy of Alith and Lintrathen.” The title “Lord Ogilvy of Airlie” was then created o ...

, the leader of the Scot capitalists. Revenues were dropping, and by 1886 or 1887 the railroad granted a long-term lease to

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway. Born and raised by Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard in the Rhenish Palatinate of the Kin ...

of the

Oregon & California Railroad The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland, Oregon, Portland in 1869. This qualified the railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name ...

. In later years, Villard would leave the Oregon railroad scene and the line came to be under the control of

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

References

*Culp, Edwin D. (1972). ''Stations West, The Story of the Oregon Railways'', Bonanza Books, Page 65. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregonian Railway 1879 establishments in Oregon 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Defunct Oregon railroads History of transportation in Oregon Marion County, Oregon Narrow gauge railroads in Oregon Transportation in Polk County, Oregon Transportation in Yamhill County, Oregon

History

See also

References