Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad

The Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad is a shortline railroad in northwestern Oregon in the United States. It was established in 1952 to handle switching in Tillamook, Oregon, and came to greater prominence in 1986 when it leased of the Southern Pacific Railroad's Tillamook Branch.

Purchased from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (SP) in 1990 by the Port of Tillamook Bay, the railroad was used to transport lumber and agricultural products over the Northern Oregon Coast Range between the Oregon Coast and the Portland area until heavily damaged in a 2007 storm. The Port of Tillamook Bay began operating the unincorporated railroad on March 27, 1986, but the tracks were originally constructed by Oregon judge George R. Bagley and others in 1906.

The railroad's main line, no longer in use due to storm damage, runs between Hillsboro and Tillamook.

History

Formation The line to Tillamook was constructed by the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company between 1906–1911. The Pacific Railway and Navigation Company, was sometimes known as the "Punk, Rotten, and Nasty" because of the wet and muddy working conditions for crews building the railroad through the Coast Range. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company (SP) took control of the company in 1915, and the line became the Tillamook Branch.

In 1943, the United States Navy established a short branch line within Tillamook to serve Naval Air Station Tillamook. The Port of Tillamook Bay created the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad in 1952 to assume operation from the Navy.

Storms In January 1990, the railroad was significantly damaged by a storm, and the cost of repairs was about $1.3 million. In February 1990, after having leased the railroad, the Port of Tillamook Bay purchased it from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company for nearly $2.9 million.

In February 1996, more storms damaged the Hillsboro–Tillamook line. About of line was "nearly completely destroyed", two bridges washed out, and the flooding Salmonberry River washed "boulders the size of cars" through one of the line's tunnels. A preliminary estimate of the damage, given by the Oregon Department of Transportation, was $5 million. In March, Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, convinced that repairing the railroad would not harm steelhead runs, permitted repairs to continue through the end of the month. In June, the state determined that the Port of Tillamook Bay had violated state environmental laws, such as by failing to control erosion in the Salmonberry River canyon.

2007 storm and shutdown of the railroad During a storm on December 2 and 3, 2007, known as the Great Coastal Gale, the railroad was again significantly damaged in the Salmonberry River canyon. The cost of repairs to the railroad was first estimated at $20 million. Tillamook County logging companies faced increased costs because they had to transport timber by truck.

When the repair cost estimate was revised to $57.3 million, fisheries groups suggested permanently abandoning the railroad because they thought "that economically, the railroad is not viable, and environmentally, rebuilding it would affect fish runs already hammered by last winter's storms". Workers began assessing the railroad damage in February 2008 in snowy, rugged terrain, and found that the flooding Salmonberry River had eroded steep embankments, damaging tunnels and collapsing trestles and bridges. Later that year, they hiked as far as each day to the canyon to further assess the damage. The Port of Tillamook Bay opted to not repair the damaged track over the mountains, but it still owns more than of railroad right-of-way, including main line, spurs, and sidings.

The port also leases a section of track from Banks to Hillsboro to the Portland and Western Railroad (P&W; PNWR) and leases the coastal portion of the line to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OHCR).

Accidents and incidents

On the night of January 28-29, 1999, POTB SD9E #4381 was hauling a string of freight cars from one track to another at Cochran Summit Wye in Timber, Oregon, when the locomotive crashed into a tree. The locomotive was retired and scrapped in April 1999.

Locomotive fleet The following locomotives listed here are locomotives used by the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad (POTB). Most of which were scrapped at the Tillamook Air Museum based in Tillamook, Oregon. PhotographRoad No.ModelBuild dateSerial No.Former No.DispositionNotesRefs.101EMD GP96/195621703INPR 101In operation at Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad since 2008110GE 80-ton switcher10/194318059US Navy 65-00285Scrapped in 199411112/194318067LP&N #80Scrapped in 19983771EMD GP9E12/195622900SP 3771Scrapped in 20104368EMD SD9E4/1955 20203SP 436843813/195519945SP 4381Involved in a wreck in January 1999, retired in April 1999 and scrapped44054/195519986SP 4405Scrapped in 2010, front hood at Astoria Riverfront Trolley Shed440619983SP 4406Scrapped in 202244144/195621314SP 4414Scrapped in 201044324/195519951SP 44326113EMD SD91/195722488BNSF 6113Scrapped in 2009611422489BNSF 6114Scrapped in 201061164/195925013BNSF 6116Scrapped in 201861244/195925015BNSF 6124Scrapped in 2010613912/195420121BNSF 6139Sold to Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad in 201761568/195520564BNSF 6156Scrapped in 2009615720565BNSF 615761649/195520572BNSF 6164Scrapped in 2012617810/195723610BNSF 6178Scrapped in 200961968/195723628BNSF 6196

Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad

The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OCSR), a non-profit museum group, operates a heritage railroad in conjunction with the POTB that runs tourist trains on a portion of POTB track from Garibaldi north to Rockaway Beach. as well as various excursions from Wheeler to Batterson, Oregon. As of 2011, OCSR was negotiating a contract with the port commission to perform track maintenance in exchange for controlling the scheduling along the portion of the line. There is disagreement between the port authority and OCSR about the percentage of ticket revenues to be paid to POTB. OCSR wanted an agreement with POTB as assurance that if the scenic railroad invests $30,000 to $40,000 in a building to house a new, larger train engine, that the tracks would not be used for another purpose. Meanwhile, the port commission said it had received an offer of more than $4 million to sell the railroad for scrap, an amount that would pay off the nearly $1.7 million in debts the port has accrued on the railroad. A former port commissioner speaking on behalf of OCSR believed, however, that the port would have trouble gaining federal approval to completely abandon the rail line.

In March 2012, OCSR agreed to lease from POTB of line from the Salmonberry River to Tillamook. This would effectively make the entire line a tourist railroad. OCSR plans to extend services to Tillamook as soon as practicable, with extension to the north a future possibility.

Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad

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