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The Portland and Western Railroad is a 520 mile ( km) Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. ().
Founding The Portland & Western's roots are in sister company Willamette & Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting marks WPRR), founded in 1993. This company was created to take over operations on many branchlines of the Southern Pacific, a class one railroad. These branches included the "Toledo Line" running from Albany, Oregon to Toledo, Oregon, serving a large Georgia Pacific kraft paper mill; the north-south "Westside Line" from Corvallis, Oregon to Newberg, Oregon, serving many agriculture, steel, and forest products industries; and three lesser branchlines serving primarily forest products industries. PNWR was created in 1995 to take over operations of the remainder of the SP's branchlines in the state, primarily the "Tillamook District" in the southwest suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and the "Rex Hill" segment of the Westside line, which served as WPRR's outside connection to the SP mainline in Portland. Shortly after startup in fall of 1995, class one railroad Burlington Northern "spun off" part of its Oregon Electric Railway 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 lease agreement, which in the wake of the 1996 Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merger, are now held by UP. The operations on the former BN branches are mixed between leases and outright ownership. 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, although two locomotives were painted and 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 1990's brought changes to the relationship. System additions which brought with them more operations in Portland led the company to move its headqaurters north from Albany to Salem, Oregon. 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 expaned rapidly. In 1997, PNWR acquired the "Astoria Line", running from Northwest Portland through to the deepwater port of Astoria, Oregon, 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, Stimpson/Forrestex, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, and Hampton Lumber Sales. PNWR handles over 90,000 carloads annually. Two other shortlines which interchange with PNWR are of note. The first is the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad (AAR reporting marks POTB), 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 other is the Central Oregon & Pacific, (AAR reporting marks CORP), a subsidiary of GWI's competitor holding company, RailAmerica. Although CORP and PNWR cross each other in Eugene, Oregon, operating agreements with Union Pacific 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, clear across the entire system to an interchange with CORP at Eugene. Operations & Equipment PNWR operates between 20 and 30 trains per day over its system. PNWRs main yard, shops complex, and dispatcher are all located at Albany. Additional crew bases in St. Helens, Oregon, St. Marys (Beaverton, Oregon), McMinnville, Oregon, and Eugene, Oregon. Executive offices are maintained in Salem, with A. Bruce Carswell President and General Manager, replacing Larry Phipps, who retired in November 2005. 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; the "Westsider" running from Albany to McMinnville; and the so-called "log train" handling logs from Albany to a CORP interchange at Eugene, via the PNWR's leased BN trackage. The locomotive fleet of the PNWR/WPRR primarily consistes of used "second generation" products of General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Notable exceptions in the fleet include a handful of SD9 locomotives which are now 50 years old and still in regular service. Neither road owns much freight equipment of its own, although there are a number of WPRR cars for woodchip service. Locomotive Fleet (as of March 9, 2006): ---- 101, 102 Slugs (used with 3001, 3002) 1201 EMD SW-9 1501 EMD SD-7 1551, 1552 EMD SW-1500 1801, 1803 EMD GP-9 1851, 1852 EMD SD-9 1853 EMD SD-9M 2005 EMD GP38 2301-2317 EMD GP39-2 3001-3002 EMD GP40-2 3003-300? EMD GP40 3603, 3604 EMD SD-45 Commuter Rail Portions of the PNWR system in the Portland metro area are currently being planned for conversion to commuter rail operations by area transit operator, TriMet. Significant upgrades, including the installation of CTC signals, will be made to the lines to be used, running from Beaverton through to Wilsonville, Oregon. Construction is set to begin in fall of 2007, with an estimated opening date sometime in 2008. It is anticipated that the system will employ Colorado Railcar's Diesel-Multiple Unit or DMU. See Washington County Commuter Rail. Interesting Historical Trivia Although a young railroad, the Portland & Western operates over some of the oldest trackage in the state of Oregon. Segments of PNWR include portions of railroads of the following heritages: | |||||||||||||||||||
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