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Portland and Western Railroad
The Portland and Western Railroad (reporting mark PNWR) is a 478-mile (769 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. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad (reporting mark WPRR).
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.
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. Shortly after PNWR's startup, class one railroad Burlington Northern "spun off" part of its Oregon Electric Railway branch lines north of Salem to the new carrier. These included the remnants of the Forest Grove branch.
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-Southern Pacific merger, are now held by UP. The operations of the former BN branches are mixed between leases and outright ownership.
Portland and Western filed to abandon the Forest Grove branch in 2023.
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.
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Portland and Western Railroad
The Portland and Western Railroad (reporting mark PNWR) is a 478-mile (769 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. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad (reporting mark WPRR).
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.
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. Shortly after PNWR's startup, class one railroad Burlington Northern "spun off" part of its Oregon Electric Railway branch lines north of Salem to the new carrier. These included the remnants of the Forest Grove branch.
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-Southern Pacific merger, are now held by UP. The operations of the former BN branches are mixed between leases and outright ownership.
Portland and Western filed to abandon the Forest Grove branch in 2023.
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.