Oregon Pacific Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in western

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, United States, from 1880 to 1894, when it was sold to the Oregon Central and Eastern Railroad. A substantial part of the Oregon Pacific's abandoned right-of-way is preserved as Oregon Pacific Railroad Linear Historic District. It was created and owned by

Thomas Egenton Hogg Thomas Egenton Hogg (1828–1898) was a master in the Confederate States Navy who participated in raids on Union ships during the American Civil War. He was captured and sentenced to death, but was eventually released from prison, after which he b ...

. Hogg organized the Corvallis and Yaquina Bay Railroad in 1872, with the vision to build a new transcontinental line eastward from the Oregon coast and provide Corvallis with a railroad connection. At the time, the next nearest rails were the

Oregon Central Railroad The Oregon Central Rail Road was the name of two railroad companies in the U.S. state of Oregon, each of which claimed federal land grants that had been assigned to the state in 1866 to assist in building a line from Portland south into California. ...

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

, and the

Oregon and 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 in 1869. This qualified the railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad s ...

in Albany. Hogg reorganized the railroad as the Willamette Valley & Coast Railroad, and ground was first broken in Corvallis on May 17, 1877. The Oregon Pacific Railroad was organized on September 15, 1880, as a successor to the WV&C. Hogg originally intended to terminate the line at

Seal Rock A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

on the Oregon Coast. In anticipation of the railroad's arrival, the town was platted in 1877 with pedestrian-friendly public spaces and resort hotels that would accommodate train travelers, but the line was instead routed through Toledo to end at Yaquina, resulting in financial ruin for many who invested in Seal Rock. To the east, the line extended as far as Idanha, short of

Santiam Pass Santiam is a place name of the U.S. state of Oregon, referring to the indigenous Santiam people. It may refer to: * Santiam Academy * Santiam Hospital * Santiam Junction, Oregon * Santiam Junction State Airport * Santiam Pass Santiam is a place nam ...

before running out of money. Hogg purchased the steamship ''Yaquina City'' to provide a direct link to his railroad between Yaquina and San Francisco. ''Yaquina City'' successfully completed several voyages, until she ran aground at

Yaquina Bay Yaquina Bay ( ) is a coastal estuarine community found in Newport, Oregon, United States. Yaquina Bay is a semi-enclosed body of water, approximately 8 km² (3.2 mi²) in area, with free connection to the Pacific Ocean, but also diluted ...

in 1887 due to a rudder failure. Despite the ''Yaquina City'' being insured, Hogg had just lost his biggest source of income and could not immediately replace the steamer. Hogg's contract with the government stated however, that if he could establish railroad service over the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, a ...

, he could receive a massive land grant. By selling this land, enough money could be made to keep the railroad in business. To get the grant, some additional track was laid over

. Hogg had mules pull some cars a few times to assert right of way. Hogg Rock near Santiam Pass is named for T. Egenton Hogg for his railroad which went around the rock. Track was also laid in the canyon of the

Malheur River The Malheur River (local pronunciation: "MAL-hyure") is a tributary of the Snake River in eastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a high desert area, between the Harney Basin and the Blue Mountains and the Snake. Despite the similari ...

to reserve that pass for the railroad. Caracas wreck

In 1888, Hogg purchased the Ocean liner '' Caracas'' from the

Red D Line Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

to replace the ''Yaquina City''. She was renamed ''Yaquina Bay'' and towed to Yaquina. Before steamship service could restart however, ''Yaquina Bay'' broke free the tugboat which was hauling her on December 9, 1888, and ran aground near the wreck of the ''Yaquina City''. Like the ''Yaquina City'', the ''Yaquina Bay'' was declared a total loss. The railroad entered bankruptcy in October 1890. In 1894 it was sold to A.B. Hammond and renamed the Oregon Central and Eastern Railway, and again in 1897 was reorganized as the Corvallis and Eastern Railroad. In 1907 the C&E was sold to the

Southern Pacific 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 ...

. Some of the tracks were submerged by

Detroit Lake Detroit Lake is a reservoir impounded by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River southeast of Salem, Oregon, United States. The lake is adjacent to Oregon Route 22 near the city of Detroit. This mesotrophic lake stores water for use by the ci ...

in the 1950s when the Detroit Dam was completed. In 1999, the line's corridor from Idanha to the Cascade summit was designated as a historic district and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

References

External links

Colonel Hogg's Great Railroad to the Pacific and Other Engineering Disasters
from the

Oregon Coast Aquarium __NOTOC__ The Oregon Coast Aquarium is an aquarium in Newport in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1992, the facility sits on along Yaquina Bay near the Pacific Ocean. The aquarium was home to Keiko, the orca who starred in the movie ''Fr ...

Historic images of Oregon Pacific Railroad
from Salem Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Pacific Railroad 1880 1894 Defunct Oregon railroads Railway companies established in 1880 Railway companies disestablished in 1894 Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company National Register of Historic Places in Linn County, Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Marion County, Oregon 1880 establishments in Oregon Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon 1894 mergers and acquisitions 1894 disestablishments in Oregon