Portland and Western Railroad
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Website | Official website |
The Portland and Western Railroad (
PNWR's tracks lie entirely within Oregon, extending from Astoria to Portland along the Columbia River, from Portland to Eugene through the Willamette Valley, and along several spurs through the Northern Oregon Coast Range.
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 branch lines of the
PNWR was created in 1995 to take over operations of the remainder of the SP's branch lines 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 before 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 52 miles (84 km) of line, leased from SP.
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
Portland and Western filed to abandon the Forest Grove branch in 2023.[3]
Relationship with WPRR
Originally, the Portland & Western was 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 the few locomotives painted and/or lettered for the PNWR were done 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 Portland & Western became the predominant corporate image in December 2000, to simplify branding, as well as operations and interchanging. Portland & Western became the "Operator" of the system while Willamette & Pacific remained in existence to retain ownership of assets. In a letter dated December 5, 2000, then General Manager of the railroad Bob Melbo stated "This is not an out and out merger of P&W and W&P. Rather, we are now using P&W as our principal corporate identity and are subjugating the W&P identity accordingly. P&W was picked because it did business with both UP and BNSF whereas W&P did business with just UP and didn't have a relationship with BNSF. "[4] 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 to Wauna from Burlington Northern. At nearly 92 miles in length, the line brought many 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, 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,[5] which interchanges with PNWR solely. This line carries a significant number of carloads, primarily lumber, from Tillamook, Oregon, 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.[6][7]
The second is the Albany and Eastern Railroad 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 as well as the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Ry's line to Sweet Home, Oregon. This line carries lumber and scrap steel. The Rick Franklin Corp also operates a railroad maintenance service that is based out of Lebanon, Oregon.
The third is the
Operations
PNWR operates between 20 and 30 trains per day over its system. PNWR's main yard and shop complex are all located in 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
Locomotive fleet
The locomotive fleet of the PNWR/WPRR primarily consists of used "second generation" products of
Commuter rail
The PNWR line between
Begun in the 1990s and originally led by
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,
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 (30300 SW Boones Ferry Road).[14]
References
- ^ MacKenzie, Bill (August 22, 1995). "Suburban short-line railroad starts up". The Oregonian. p. B14.
- ^ Surface Transportation Board (November 24, 1997). "Portland & Western Railroad, Inc.--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ "Portland & Western Railroad, Inc.-Abandonment Exemption-in Washington County, Or". 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ "Portland & Western News". Northwest Rails. 2000-12-07. Archived from the original on 2001-03-05.
- ^ Port of Tillamook Bay (as of May 12, 2008 the main page features storm damage photos)
- ^ "Storm caused $20M damage to Tillamook railroad". KGW. December 10, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- Daily Astorian. December 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ "AEX EMD SD40-3MR #100020". 8 December 2014.
- ^ "G&W locomotives to scrap or upgrade per EPA decree in 2023". Trains.com. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ Rose, Joseph; Schmidt, Brad (March 8, 2010). "When will WES prove itself? Tri-Met's Wilsonville-to-Beaverton commuter rail still suffering growing pains". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
- ^ a b "Fact Sheet: WES Commuter Rail" (PDF). TriMet. August 2012. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
- ^ Gunderson, Laura (September 26, 2002). "TriMet takes over lead on commuter rail". The Oregonian, p. B3 (Portland)/B2 (Wash. County).
- ISBN 978-0-7106-2903-6.
- ^ "TriMet: Ticket outlets". TriMet. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2008) |
- TriMet commuter rail page
- Marre, Louis (c. 1995). Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide, second edition. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-89024-257-5.
Further reading
- Dorn, Dick (September 2000). "Tracks of the Pioneers". Trains. Vol. 60, no. 9. pp. 34–41.