The Western Oregon Railroad was a railway company in the state of Oregon in the United States. It was established by the bondholders of the Oregon and California Railroad to further extend the route of the "West Side"

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. ...

south toward

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

. All three companies were consolidated in 1880. The Western Oregon's line between

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 Corvallis is intact and operated by the Portland and Western Railroad.

History

The "West Side"

had completed a line from

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 ...

, north of McMinnville, in 1872. The Western Oregon Railroad was incorporated on January 27, 1879, to extend the line further south. The line opened between St. Joseph and Corvallis on September 1, 1879. On that date, the Western Oregon leased the Oregon Central Railroad. Both companies were backed by the owners of the Oregon and California Railroad. The Western Oregon Railroad and Oregon Central Railroad were consolidated with the Oregon and California Railroad on October 9, 1880. The Oregon and California remained part of the

Southern Pacific Transportation Company 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 ...

system until 1927 when it was formally merged. The Western Oregon's line, along with the Oregon Central's, was known as the West Side branch. the line is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and operated by the Portland and Western Railroad.

Notes

References

* * * {{cite book , last=Robertson , first=Donald B. , title=Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History , volume=III , date=1995 , publisher=

Caxton Printers Caxton Press (formerly known as Caxton Printers, a division of its parent company, The Caxton Printers Ltd.) is a book publisher located in Caldwell, Idaho, United States, founded in 1925. It is also a distributor of books from the University ...

, location=Caldwell, Idaho , isbn=978-0-87004-366-6 Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Defunct Oregon railroads Railway companies established in 1879 Railway companies disestablished in 1880 1879 establishments in Oregon American companies established in 1879 American companies disestablished in 1880