The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries road traffic, and light rail (MAX), making the bridge one of the most multimodal in the world. It is the only double-deck bridge with independent lifts in the world and the second oldest vertical-lift bridge in North America, after the nearby Hawthorne Bridge. The bridge links the Rose Quarter and Lloyd District in the east to Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in the west.
The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene.
The Willamette Shore Trolley is a heritage railroad or heritage streetcar that operates along the west bank of the Willamette River between Portland and Lake Oswego in the U.S. state of Oregon. The right-of-way is owned by a group of local-area governments who purchased it in 1988 in order to preserve it for potential future rail transit. Streetcar excursion service began operating on a trial basis in 1987, lasting about three months, and regular operation on a long-term basis began in 1990. The Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society has been the line's operator since 1995.
The Portland and Willamette Valley Railway was incorporated on 19 January 1885 to continue construction of a 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad line between Portland and Dundee, Oregon, United States, which had been started a few years earlier by the Oregonian Railway. 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.
Like transportation in the rest of the United States, the primary mode of local transportation in Portland, Oregon is the automobile. Metro, the metropolitan area's regional government, has a regional master plan in which transit-oriented development plays a major role. This approach, part of the new urbanism, promotes mixed-use and high-density development around light rail stops and transit centers, and the investment of the metropolitan area's share of federal tax dollars into multiple modes of transportation. In the United States, this focus is atypical in an era when automobile use led many areas to neglect their core cities in favor of development along interstate highways, in suburbs, and satellite cities.
Portland is "an international pioneer in transit orientated developments."
Oregon Route 43 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the cities of Oregon City and Portland, mostly along the western flank of the Willamette River. While it is technically known by the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Oswego Highway No. 3, on maps it is referred to by its route number or by the various street names it has been given.
The Portland and Western Railroad is a 516-mile (830 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.
The Westside Express Service (WES) is a commuter rail line in the U.S. state of Oregon serving parts of Washington and Clackamas counties in the Portland metropolitan area. Owned by TriMet and operated by Portland & Western Railroad (P&W), the line is 14.7 miles (23.7 km) long and travels north–south from Beaverton to Wilsonville along a route just west of Oregon Highway 217 and Interstate 5 (I-5). WES consists of five stations and connects with MAX Light Rail at Beaverton Transit Center. Service operates on a 45-minute headway on weekdays during the morning and evening rush hours. In Spring 2022, WES saw a daily ridership of 420 passengers or about 109,000 riders annually.
Rail transportation is an important element of the transportation network in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rail transportation has existed in Oregon in some form since 1855, and the state was a pioneer in development of electric railway systems. While the automobile has displaced many uses of rail in the state, rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.
The Wilsonville railroad bridge is a steel truss bridge that crosses the Willamette River at Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. This 1,220-foot (370 m) long structure was finished in 1975 to replace a 1907 bridge at the same location and carries rail traffic for the Portland and Western Railroad. The original bridge was built to carry the Oregon Electric Railway across the river near the Boones Ferry.
The Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge is a truss railroad bridge that spans the Willamette River between Lake Oswego, Oregon and Oak Grove, Oregon. Owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, it is currently leased by the Portland and Western Railroad and carries the Milwaukie branch.
The Oregon Central Rail Road was the name of two railroad companies in the U.S. state of Oregon, each of which claimed federal land grants that had been assigned to the state in 1866 to assist in building a line from Portland south into California. The "East Side Company" of Salem, supported by businessman Ben Holladay, eventually received the grant for its line east of the Willamette River, and was reorganized in 1870 as the Oregon and California Railroad (O&C), which completed the line in 1887. Portland supported the competing "West Side Company", which only built to McMinnville, and was sold to the O&C in 1880. The O&C was later acquired by the Southern Pacific Company, and mostly remains as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's I-5 Corridor; the West Side line is now operated by the Portland and Western Railroad between Beaverton and Forest Grove.
The Oregon Eastern Railway was a predecessor of the Southern Pacific Company that acquired or built most of the Natron Cutoff in northern California and southern Oregon, United States. It also made surveys and acquired right-of-way in eastern Oregon, which were subsequently sold to Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company.
The Willamette River is a 187-mile (301 km) tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in mountains south and southeast of the twin cities of Eugene and Springfield. Formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield, the main stem meanders generally north from source to mouth. The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg, where the stream turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downriver from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth, the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island. The main channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean, and the smaller Multnomah Channel enters the Columbia about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) further downstream near St. Helens in Columbia County.
The Southern Pacific Red Electric Lines, also known simply as the Red Electric, was a network of interurban passenger train services operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the Willamette Valley of the U.S. state of Oregon from 1914 to 1929. The service got its name from the bright red color of its cars. Despite its short history, among West Coast interurbans it was unique, and it was considered the finest such system in the Pacific Northwest. It was the only major electric interurban railroad converted from steam to electric passenger use. It was also one of few systems using all-steel equipment, and one of the largest 1500-volt systems in the country.
The transportation system of Oregon is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure.
The Forest Grove branch is an abandoned railway line in the state of Oregon, in the United States. It was built by the Oregon Electric Railway and ran 19.1 miles (30.7 km) from Garden Home to Forest Grove via Beaverton and Hillsboro. The MAX Blue Line uses part of the right-of-way between Beaverton and Hillsboro.
The Milwaukie branch is a railway line in Clackamas County, Oregon, in the United States. It connects the Union Pacific Railroad's Brooklyn Subdivision and Newberg branch. It was originally built in 1910 by the Beaverton and Willsburg Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The Portland and Western Railroad operates the line.
The Newberg branch is a railway line in the state of Oregon, in the United States. It runs 36 miles (58 km) from Portland to a junction with the West Side branch west of Saint Joseph. It was originally built by the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway, a predecessor of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
The Tigard branch is a short railway line on the west side of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It connects the Union Pacific Railroad's West Side branch and Newberg branch. It was originally built in 1910 by the Beaverton and Willsburg Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The Portland and Western Railroad operates the line, including the WES Commuter Rail service.
