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The Portland and Western Railroad is a
Class II railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
serving the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
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 ...
, and is a wholly owned
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad . PNWR's tracks lie entirely within Oregon, extending from Astoria to
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
along the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
, from Portland to Eugene through 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, ...
, and along several spurs through the
Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part ...
.


Founding

The Portland & Western's roots are in sister company Willamette and Pacific Railroad, founded in 1993. This company was created to take over operations on many branchlines of 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 ...
, a Class I railroad. These branches included the Toledo Branch from Albany to Toledo and the Westside Branch from Monroe to
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 ...
(near McMinnville), plus the Bailey Branch west from Monroe to a sawmill, the Dallas Branch from Gerlinger to
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 ...
, the Willamina Branch from Whiteson (near Amity) to Willamina, and the southern portion of the Newberg Branch from St. Joseph to Springbrook (north of Newberg). Lumber products and paper are the predominant commodity on these branches, along with some agricultural products from various shippers. The Cascade Steel Rolling Mill in McMinnville is an important shipper as well, and propane shipments are handled to several distributors. PNWR was created in 1995 to take over operations of the remainder of the SP's branchlines in the state consisting of the former Southern Pacific Tillamook Branch between Willsburg Junction (near Milwaukie) and Hillsboro, the Westside–Seghers Branch from Hillsboro to Seghers (near Gaston), and the remaining segment of the Newberg Branch between Cook (near Tualatin) and Springbrook (near Newberg), connecting to the existing Willamette & Pacific network to McMinnville and Corvallis. The W&P had trackage rights on the Newberg Branch and the portion of the Tillamook Branch between Cook and Willsburg Junction, along with trackage rights on a short portion of SP's mainline to Brooklyn Yard to facilitate interchange with SP, however in the year prior to the P&W's formation the W&P had been interchanging with SP exclusively through the Eugene Yard gateway. The railroad's first day of operation was August 18, 1995, and it began with of line, leased from SP. Shortly after PNWR's startup, class one railroad
Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...
"spun off" part of its
Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system ...
branchlines north of Salem to the new carrier. According to former WPRR/PNWR General Manager Robert I. Melbo, the Portland & Western was created to take over the new lines, rather than just extending the WPRR, due to regulatory issues then in force. Most of the former SP branches are operated via a twenty-year lease agreement, which in the wake of the 1996
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
-Southern Pacific merger, are now held by UP. The operations on the former BN branches are mixed between leases and outright ownership.


Routes of the PNWR and WPRR


Relationship with WPRR

Originally, the Portland & Western has been operated as a "paper corporation". Its officers were the same as those of the sister WPRR, with which its lines are contiguous. WPRR locomotives and other equipment were used to operate the line, and all locomotives are painted and/or lettered for the PNWR as a publicity move. Operating crews were divided between the two companies, but in practice, crews of PNWR or WPRR would be used anywhere they were needed on the system. The late 1990s brought changes to the relationship. System additions which brought with them more operations in Portland led the company to move its headquarters north from Albany to
Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...
. With an increasing profile in the metro area, the Portland & Western became the predominant corporate image in December 2000. Everything from locomotives to letterheads began to bear the brand Portland & Western. In effect, the situation of 1995 has been reversed, and WPRR is now the paper corporation.


System expansions

The combined PNWR/WPRR system has expanded rapidly. In 1997, PNWR acquired the "Astoria Line", running from Northwest Portland through to the deepwater
Port of Astoria A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
from Burlington Northern. At nearly 92 miles in length, the line brought a significant number of paper, lumber, and chemical customers onto the system. In 2002, PNWR acquired a long-term lease of the remaining Burlington Northern branches in the state, giving the company access to Salem and Eugene via its own tracks. The acquisition of the former allowed PNWR to make through movements from its Portland-area lines to its central yard at Albany without routing over the steep and curvy Rex Hill.


Traffic base

PNWR has a diverse traffic base based on carload commodities. Woodchips, paper, agricultural goods, and aggregates are all major sources of traffic. Primary amongst the road's over 135 customers are Georgia Pacific,
Stimson Lumber Company Stimson Lumber Company is an American Forest products company based in Oregon. Founded in 1931, it was started by three partners, including G. W. Stimson of the Stimson family of King County, Washington, responsible for the Stimson House, Hollywo ...
, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, and Hampton Lumber Sales. PNWR handles over 90,000 carloads annually. Three other shortlines which interchange with PNWR are of note. The first is the
Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad The Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad (POTB) was a shortline railroad in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Purchased from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1990 by the Port of Tillamook Bay, the railroad was used to transport l ...
, which interchanges with PNWR solely. This line carries a significant number of carloads, primarily lumber, from
Tillamook, Oregon The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 5,231 at the 2020 census. History The city is named for the T ...
, over the coast range via 100 miles of winding mountain railway. The POTB line was severely damaged by a major storm in 2007, and is out of service indefinitely, west of Banks. The second is the
Albany and Eastern Railroad The Albany and Eastern Railroad is a short line railroad in the Willamette Valley of Oregon that was created when the BNSF Railway spun off its Sweet Home Branch Line in May 1998. It operates about of track and is based in Lebanon, Oregon. Th ...
a subsidiary of the Rick Franklin Corp, which interchanges solely with the PNWR. This shortline is in part the Southern Pacific line to
Detroit, Oregon Detroit is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It was named for Detroit, Michigan, in the 1890s because of the large number of people from Michigan in the community. The population was 203 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Sale ...
as well as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Ry's line to
Sweet Home, Oregon Sweet Home is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States, with population 8,925 at the 2010 census. Built near the site of a prehistoric petrified forest, Sweet Home experienced substantial growth during the construction of the Green Peter an ...
. This line carries lumber and scrap steel. The Rick Franklin Corp also operates a railroad maintenance service that is based out of
Lebanon, Oregon Lebanon ( ) is a city in Linn County, Oregon, Linn County, Oregon, United States. Lebanon is located in northwest Oregon, southeast of Salem, Oregon, Salem. The population was 18,447 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lebanon sits be ...
. The third is the
Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad The Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad is a Class II railroad operating between Northern California and Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was previously a mainline owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Eugene and Weed, Califor ...
, a subsidiary of GWI. Although CORP and PNWR cross each other in
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
, operating agreements with
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
prevented the two railroads from interchanging traffic directly. Congestion problems experienced by UP in 2004 resulted in a new agreement allowing direct interchange, creating a new traffic flow on PNWR. Today, PNWR handles a great deal of log traffic from a log import-export firm on its lines in
Rainier, Oregon Rainier is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. The city's population was 1,895 at the 2010 census. Rainier is on the south bank of the Columbia River across from Kelso and Longview, Washington. History Rainier was founded in 1851 ...
, clear across the entire system to an interchange with CORP at Eugene.


Operations

PNWR operates between 20 and 30 trains per day over its system. PNWR's main yard and shops complex are all located at Albany. Additional crew bases in St. Helens, Tigard, McMinnville, and Eugene. Executive offices are maintained in Salem. As of November 29, 2008 P&W is operating with an interim President and General Manager. A. Bruce Carswell resigned from the post in November 2008, replacing Larry Phipps, who retired in November 2005, who had replaced Robert I. Melbo who was WPRR/PNWR's first President and General Manager, having previously been the Superintendent of the Southern Pacific's Oregon Division which operated many of the lines before the WPRR was formed. Primary trains on the system are the "Harbor Turn/Albany Turn" pair, which runs from Portland through to Albany; the "Toledo Hauler", running from Albany over the Coast Range to Toledo; the "Eugene Hauler", from Albany to a Eugene interchange with UP over UP
trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
; the "Westsider" running from Albany to McMinnville; and the Albany Hauler from Albany to a CORP interchange at Eugene, via the PNWR's leased BN trackage. In 2006, PNWR took over operation of the 663/664 train pair from BNSF Railway. These trains run between Vancouver, WA and Albany (663 is the southbound train, 664 goes north) and are PNWR's first to regularly operate outside of Oregon. They alternately use the Oregon Electric District out of Portland and a nearby Union Pacific line between Portland and Salem under an inherited trackage rights agreement. As of September 2008, PNWR was operating run-through unit grain trains from the BNSF to and from Port Westward on the Astoria Line west of Rainier. These trains currently run with BNSF locomotives.


Locomotive fleet

The locomotive fleet of the PNWR/WPRR primarily consists of used "second generation" products of
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...
. Notable exceptions in the fleet include a handful of GP/SD/SW9 locomotives which are now 60+ years old and still in regular service, as well as an SD7. PNWR also operated a few unique locomotives, including the former PNWR 3300 (which was an EMD SD40-3MR), as well as one of the last remaining SDP40Fs, DLMX 644, as well as RSD-5, DLMX 324. As of late 2014, PNWR 3300 was sold to
The Andersons The Andersons, Inc. is an American agribusiness established in 1947, that began as Andersons Truck Terminal (ATT) in the 1940s for the grain industry, headquartered in Maumee, Ohio. It is a diversified company rooted in agriculture that conducts ...
as AEX 100020.


Commuter rail

The PNWR line between Beaverton and Wilsonville is leased to
TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...
for operation of its Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail service. PNWR freight trains also continue to use the line, but not during times when the passenger trains are operating. Under a contract with TriMet, the rail cars are operated by PNWR crews. Begun in the 1990s and originally led by Washington County, the commuter-rail project was taken over by TriMet in 2002, and the regional transit agency entered into an agreement with PNWR for the use of its right-of-way, and later for the operation of the rail cars. During construction in 2007–2008, the section involved was upgraded for use by commuter trains. Upgrades included a new roadbed, ballast, ties and rail to accommodate passenger train speeds of 60 MPH and freight train speeds of 40 MPH,
Centralized Traffic Control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system con ...
signaling,
Automatic Train Control Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
at control points, new sidings, station platforms at the end points along with intermediate stations in
Tigard, Oregon Tigard ( ) is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tua ...
and
Tualatin, Oregon Tualatin () is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is located ...
, and in the Progress/Washington Square area near the Beaverton/Tigard city line, and a maintenance shop located in Wilsonville (staffed by TriMet employees). In Beaverton, TriMet also constructed a new
spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...
off of the PNWR line, for exclusive use by WES trains, running mostly along Lombard Avenue and connecting the freight line with the
Beaverton Transit Center Beaverton Transit Center is an intermodal passenger transport hub in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by TriMet, it is served by bus, commuter rail, and light rail. The transit center is MAX Light Rail's 15th station eastbo ...
.Webb, Mary (ed.) (2009). ''Jane's Urban Transport Systems 2009–2010'', pp. 451–452. Coulsdon, Surrey (UK):
Jane's Information Group Jane's Information Group, now styled Janes, is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane. History Jane's Informatio ...
. .
PNWR is responsible for train operations, including staffing the trains with an engineer and conductor, dispatching, and maintenance. TriMet has a manager to oversee the service and handles basic maintenance of the fleet and stations. The service had been expected to launch as early as August 2008 but due to delays by the car manufacturer,
Colorado Railcar Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock—railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products came in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US Railcar. Hist ...
, the actual start of service date was February 2, 2009. Four Colorado Railcar
DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
are used, three of which are powered vehicles and can move on their own, and a fourth vehicle which is a control trailer that is towed or pushed by one of the three powered cars. TriMet also acquired two former
Alaska Railroad Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
Rail Diesel Cars, or RDCs, in late 2009 and refurbished them to serve as a backup train on occasions when one or more of the DMUs are out of service. Fares are handled off-board using ticket-vending machines at each stop, which will not allow for cash fares but only the use of a credit or debit card. Cash passengers have the option in Tigard and Beaverton to first board a bus at the transit center to pay for cash and obtain a transfer which will be valid on the train; in Tualatin and at Hall/Nimbus bus service is infrequent to accommodate this, and TriMet does not serve Wilsonville and thus a passenger in Wilsonville wanting to pay a cash fare will simply not be permitted to board, unless they purchase a prepaid ticket or pass online, or at the Wilsonville
Fred Meyer Fred Meyer is an American chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are found in the northwest U.S., within the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company merged w ...
(30300 SW Boones Ferry Road).


References


TriMet commuter rail page
*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portland Western Railroad 1995 establishments in Oregon Companies based in Salem, Oregon Companies operating former Northern Pacific Railway lines Companies operating former Southern Pacific Transportation Company lines Companies operating former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway lines Genesee & Wyoming Logging railroads in the United States Oregon railroads Railway companies established in 1995 Regional railroads in the United States Spin-offs of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company WES Commuter Rail