User:Mackensen/Tillamook branch

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Tillamook branch
Technical
Line length114.7 mi (184.6 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

Legend
mi
West Side branch
23.9
 Hillsboro
West Side branch
Forest Grove branch
Hatfield Government Center
25.3
 Mahan
29.1
 Schefflin
Vernonia branch
33.6
 Banks
SP&S
to Keasey
40.1
 Buxton
47.4
 Strassel
52.0
 Timber
55.7
 Wedeburg
58.9
 Cochran
64.0
 Mayo
65.9
 Belding
69.9
 Enright
72.3
 Belfort
74.6
 Salmonberry
77.8
 Wakefield
84.0
 Batterson
90.1
 Mohler
92.5
 Wheeler
96.0
 Jetty
102.7
 Barview
104.6
 Garibaldi
105.3
 Miami
114.7
 Tillamook
[1][2]
This diagram:

The Tillamook branch is a partially-abandoned railway line in the state of Oregon, in the United States. At its fullest extent, it ran 114 miles (183 km) from Milwaukie, Oregon, south of Portland, Oregon, to Tillamook, Oregon, on Tillamook Bay. It was built by the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company and for decades was part of the Southern Pacific Railroad system.

History[edit]

Construction[edit]

The eastern end of the branch began at Willsburg Junction in Milwaukie, on the Brooklyn Subdivision. The Beaverton and Willsburg Railroad, established in 1906, built west through Milwaukie to Lake Oswego. The Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge carries the line over the Willamette River.[3][4][a] From Lake Oswego, the branch uses approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) of the main line of the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway. This line was built as a narrow gauge railway in 1885–1888, and was subsequently rebuilt as a standard gauge line in 1893.[6][b] From the point where the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway turns southwest, the Beaverton and Willsburg Railroad built a second connecting track, 7 miles (11 km) long, which ran northwest to a connection with the original main line of the Oregon Central Railroad in Beaverton.[4][c]

The oldest part of the Tillamook branch was the original main line of the "West Side" Oregon Central Railroad, which was completed between Portland and Saint Joseph in November 1872.[7][d][e] The Tillamook branch used this line between Beaverton and Hillsboro, 9 miles (14 km) to the west. From Hillsboro, the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company undertook the largest and most difficult part of the undertaking, building 91 miles (146 km) through the Northern Oregon Coast Range to Tillamook Bay.[9]

Interurban[edit]

Main article: Southern Pacific Red Electric Lines

Divestiture[edit]

Given the difficult operating conditions and falling traffic, the Southern Pacific planned to abandon the western part of line in the 1980s.[10] With financial support from the Oregon Economic Development Department, the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad began operating over the line between Tillamook and Batterson, Oregon, in 1983. This was extended to Hillsboro, Oregon, in 1986.[11] At the same time, the Southern Pacific obtained approval from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to abandon the line west of Schefflin in the future.[12] The Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad formally leased the line west of Hillsboro at the end of 1986; the Southern Pacific retained the line between Hillsboro and Milwaukie.[10] In February 1990, the Port of Tillamook Bay purchased its part of the line for $2.9 million.[13]

On the eastern end, the new Portland and Western Railroad leased several Southern Pacific branches, including the Tillamook between Banks and Milwaukie, in 1995.[14] Administratively, the Portland and Western has divided its portion of the Tillamook branch into three parts:[15]

  • the Tillamook District between Banks and Beaverton.
  • the OE District from Beaverton to Bonita, south of Tigard Transit Center (and continuing further south).
  • the Willsburg District from Bonita to Willsburg Junction

Storms[edit]

Bad weather damaged the western end of the line repeatedly. Even while the Port of Tillamook was purchasing the line, a January 1990 storm caused $1.3 million in damage.[16] In February 1996, a "Pineapple Express" damaged the Hillsboro–Tillamook line. About 7 miles (11 km) of line was "nearly completely destroyed",[17] two bridges washed out, and the flooding Salmonberry River washed "boulders the size of cars" through one of the line's tunnels.[17] Restoring service cost $12 million.[18]

The Great Coastal Gale on December 2–3, 2007, proved the final straw. Estimates of repair costs grew from an initial $20 million to $57.3 million.[19][20] The Port of Tillamook Bay opted to not repair the damaged track over the mountains, but it still owns the right-of-way, including main line, spurs, and sidings.[21][22] In 2011, the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad leased the line between Tillamook and Enright.[21]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Also designated the Milwaukie Branch.[5]: 8 
  2. ^ Sometimes included in the Newburg branch.[5]: 9 
  3. ^ Also designated the Tigard Branch.[5]: 8 
  4. ^ Service to Hillsboro began in January 1872.[8]
  5. ^ Sometimes included in the West Side branch.[5]: 8, 10 

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Portland and Western Railroad (May 9, 2010). "System Timetable 9" (PDF). Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Southern Pacific Railroad (July 10, 1949). "Portland Division Timetable 141" (PDF). p. 11. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  3. ^ "Work begins on cut-off". Polk County Observer. September 24, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved December 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b ICC (1934), p. 245.
  5. ^ a b c d Southern Pacific Railroad (September 15, 1931). "Time Table for the Portland Division 121" (PDF). Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  6. ^ ICC (1934), pp. 427–428.
  7. ^ Poor's manual of railroads. New York: H.V. & H.W. Poor. 1880. p. 996.
  8. ^ Johnson, Lee Carrol (February 1950). Trunk Line Railroad Development In Oregon, 1860-1887 (PhD thesis). State University of Iowa. OCLC 148217445. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  9. ^ Moore & Jennison (2005), pp. 32–33.
  10. ^ a b Burkhardt (1989), p. 51.
  11. ^ Astle & Howells (1986), pp. 14, 20.
  12. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission (August 29, 1986). "Docket No. AB-12 (Sub-No. 108): Southern Pacific Transportation Co.; Abandonment; Tillamook Branch in Washington and Tillamook Counties, OR; Findings" (PDF). p. 30723.
  13. ^ "Tillamook port buys rail line". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Associated Press. February 4, 1990. p. 2D. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  14. ^ Dorn (2000), p. 37.
  15. ^ Portland and Western Railroad (May 9, 2010). "System Timetable 9" (PDF). Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  16. ^ "Coastal county to get storm aid". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. Associated Press. January 25, 1990. p. A4. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  17. ^ a b "Flooding and mudslides cripple railroading in the Pacific Northwest". Pacific RailNews: 10–11. April 1996. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  18. ^ Moore & Jennison (2005), pp. 35–36.
  19. ^ "Tillamook port cuts back operations after railroad is devastated". The Daily Astorian. Astoria, Oregon. December 7, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Milstein, Michael (September 30, 2008). "Tillamook RR repair cost tops $57 million". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Hansen (2013), p. 65.
  22. ^ "Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad". Port of Tillamook Bay. Retrieved December 25, 2023.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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