- Oregon Portage Railroad
-
Oregon Portage Railroad 
Locale South bank of the Cascades canal near the Columbia River, near Bonneville Dam and Tanner Creek to Cascade Locks Dates of operation 1858–1896 Track gauge 5 ft (1,524 mm)[1] Previous gauge 3 ft (914 mm)[1] Length 5 miles (8 km), later extended to 15 miles (24 km) The Oregon Portage Railroad was the first railroad in the U.S. state of Oregon.[2] It originally ran for 4.5 miles (7.2 km) with 7 miles (11 km) of telegraph line,[3][4] and was later extended to a length of 15 miles (24 km).[5] The railroad was located on the south bank of the Cascades canal,[6] of the Columbia River, from Tanner Creek (near the modern-day location of Bonneville Dam) to the Cascade Locks (which were under construction in the later years of the railroad's operation).[7][8][9]
Contents
Construction
In 1861, John W. Brazee of the Oregon Portage Company began the construction of a railroad on a mule and wagon road that had been constructed by Col. Joseph S. Ruckle and Harrison Olmstead in 1856, but had been out of service since around 1858. The cost of the construction of the railroad was $50,000 USD, and the line opened on May 20, 1861.[9][5][10] A year later, it stopped using mule power, acquiring the Oregon Pony, the first locomotive in the Pacific Northwest,[1][11] which made its debut on May 10, 1862.[12]
The restoration of the railroad in 1891, including a conversion to the narrower 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, was inspired by pressure from steamboat captains, who needed the capability of safely transporting goods and passengers past the Cascades Rapids and were disappointed with the poor quality of the Cascades Railroad, as well as delays in the construction of the Cascade Locks and Canal.[1][11] Once the locks were completed in 1896, demand for a railroad decreased.[13] However, the Oregon Portage Railroad was not the first rail development along the Columbia. Justin Chenowith successfully operated a railroad system on the river's north bank, in Washington, in 1851.[14]
Ownership
The Oregon Portage Railroad was operated by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which sold it for $155,000 USD around the year 1880 as part of the company's sale to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.[7][1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Hilton, George W. (1997) [1990]. American narrow gauge railroads. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 481. ISBN 0804717311. http://books.google.com/books?id=7POj8GvF4sIC&pg=PA481&lpg=PA481&dq=Oregon+Portage+Railroad+gauge&source=bl&ots=OoBnliA_Q9&sig=ae0yMTYWU9gD7QbO-W88nYrgQVM&hl=en&ei=lQwtTdzeF5O6sAPw2uj0BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Oregon%20Portage%20Railroad%20gauge&f=false.
- ^ Oregon, End of the Trail. American Guide Series. US History Publishers. 1940. p. 71. ISBN 1603540369. http://books.google.com/?id=8fWjdr-bOVQC&pg=PA71&dq=Joseph+S.+Ruckel+oregon&cd=3#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20S.%20Ruckel%20oregon&f=false.
- ^ Topinka, Lyn. "Railroads and trains". Columbia River Images. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Tucker, Kathy. "Oregon Pony". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University. http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/oregon_pony/. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
- ^ a b Potter, Miles F. (1976). Oregon's Golden Years. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-87004-254-8. http://books.google.com/?id=yHIeSIc5ODEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Oregon's+golden+years:+bonanza+of+the+West#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Winther, Oscar Osburn (1969). The Old Oregon Country. University of Nebraska Press. p. 294. ISBN 0-8032-5218-8. http://books.google.com/?id=19fMcvQhk_YC&pg=PA294&dq=Oregon+Portage+Railroad#v=onepage&q=Oregon%20Portage%20Railroad&f=false.
- ^ a b Laubaugh, Glenn. "The Oregon Steam Navigation Company and its related portage tramways". National Railway Historical Society. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Strack, Don (13 December 2009). "Oregon Steam Navigation Co. (OSN): the Oregon Ponies". UtahRails.Net. http://utahrails.net/up/oregon-ponies.php. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "Oregon history: emerging economies". The Oregon Blue Book. Oregon State Archives. http://bluebook.state.or.us/cultural/history/history21.htm. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Gill, Frank B. (September 1924). "Oregon's first railway". Oregon Historical Quarterly (Oregon Historical Society) 25 (3): 171–235. JSTOR 20610279.
- ^ a b Strack, Don (13 December 2009). "Oregon Steam Navigation Co. (OSN): lower portage (the Cascades)". UtahRails.Net. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
- ^ Sullivan, Ann (7 December 1987). "Tiny steam engine tugs at old memories". The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.). http://libweb.uoregon.edu/dc/newspaper/article.php?newspaper=oregonian&id=53881. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Barber, Katrine. "Celilo Falls". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University. http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/celilo_falls/. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Terry, John (27 May 2007). "A little engine that couldn't beat time". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
Railroads of Oregon Common carriers 
Passenger carriers AMTK • LPN • OPE • SV • TMTC (MAX Light Rail) • PS • TMTC (Westside Express) • WST • WURR (Eagle Cap)
Former carriers See also: List of United States railroads by political divisionCoordinates: 45°40′02″N 121°55′07″W / 45.667086°N 121.918716°W
Categories:- Columbia River Gorge
- Defunct Oregon railroads
- Railway lines opened in 1858
- Transportation in Hood River County, Oregon
- Transportation in Multnomah County, Oregon
- Portages in the United States
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