The Portland and Willamette Valley Railway was incorporated on 19 January 1885 to continue construction of a narrow-gauge railroad line between Portland and Dundee, Oregon, United States, which had been started a few years earlier by the Oregonian Railway.Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: Oregon, Washington, p. 131American Narrow Gauge Railroads, p. 480 The line was opened on 31 December 1886 and the first timetables were published the following day; however, the line did not reach Portland until 23 July 1888, due to disputes over the right-of-way. The railroad company ran this line until it fell into receivership on 2 February 1892.
On 5 August 1892, the line was leased to a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary, the Portland and Yamhill Railroad, which ran the narrow-gauge line for another year. The railroad was later taken over entirely by the Oregon and California Railroad, another Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary, on 1 August 1893 and was converted to that same year.Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society's website about the trolley
The Portland and Willamette Valley Railway's main line became the Southern Pacific's Newberg branch. The Willamette Shore Trolley runs on a part of that Dundee–Portland line, between Lake Oswego and Portland. The Portland and Western Railroad operates freight service south of Lake Oswego.
References
External links
History of the Narrow Gauge Railroad in the Willamette Valley Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society's website about the trolley, mentions gauge conversion