Cascade and Columbia River Railroad

Last updated
Cascade and Columbia River Railroad
Cascade and Columbia River Railroad logo.png
Overview
Headquarters Omak, Washington
Reporting mark CSCD
Dates of operation1996present
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length145 miles (233 km) [1]
1914 map of the route of the Great Northern line from Oroville to Wenatchee Railway Age Great Northern Line from Oroville to Wenatchee 1914.jpg
1914 map of the route of the Great Northern line from Oroville to Wenatchee

The Cascade and Columbia River Railroad( reporting mark CSCD) is a short line railroad that interchanges with BNSF Railway in Wenatchee, Washington and runs north to Oroville.

The line from Wenatchee to Oroville was built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway [2] to link the main line at Wenatchee to a line Great Northern had built under the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (VV&E) charter in British Columbia (Canada), and the Washington and Great Northern Railway (W&GN) charter for Washington (US). This line was originally the Molson–Oroville-Keremeos branch of the Spokane Falls and Northern Railway completed in 1907 which was owned by GN at the time of completion. [3] [4]

The former Burlington Northern W-O Branch was purchased by the RailAmerica Corporation in September 1996. [5] Genesee & Wyoming later acquired the railroad in late 2012.


The railroad line follows the Columbia River Valley north from Wenatchee to the Okanogan River Valley and north to Oroville, just north of where the Smilkameen River joins the Okanogan River.

Commodities hauled on the railroad consist mainly of timber products, as well as limestone. CSCD moved around 5,200 carloads in 2008. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oroville, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Oroville is a city located in the northern bulk of the Okanogan Highlands in north-central Washington, United States. Oroville is a member municipality of Okanogan County, Washington, situated between Omak and Penticton. The population was 1,686 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Northern Railway (U.S.)</span> Defunct American Class I railroad

The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burlington Northern Railroad</span> Former American railroad company

The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 97</span> North–south highway in the northwestern United States

U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a major north–south route of the United States Numbered Highway System in the Pacific Northwest region. It runs for approximately 670 miles (1,078 km) through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, primarily serving interior areas on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. The highway terminates to the south at a junction with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Weed, California, and to the north at the Canadian border near Osoyoos, British Columbia, where it becomes British Columbia Highway 97. Major cities on the US 97 corridor include Klamath Falls, Bend, and Redmond in Oregon; and Yakima, Ellensburg, and Wenatchee in Washington. A portion of the highway in California and Oregon is part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad</span> Railroad in northern New England

The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Canada–US border at Norton, Vermont, and Stanhope, Quebec, and is owned by short-line operator Genesee & Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Joaquin Valley Railroad</span> Central California freight transport company

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies and is part of the Western Region Division of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates over about 371 miles (597 km) of owned or leased track primarily on several lines in California's Central Valley/San Joaquin Valley around Fresno and Bakersfield. The SJVR has trackage rights over Union Pacific between Fresno, Goshen, Famoso, Bakersfield and Algoso. The SJVR also operated for the Tulare Valley Railroad (TVRR) from Calwa to Corcoran and Famoso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad</span> Railroad operating between California and Oregon

The Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad is a Class II railroad operating between Northern California and Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was previously a mainline owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Eugene and Weed, California via Medford, Oregon. SP sold the route on December 31, 1994, in favor of using its route to Eugene via Klamath Falls, Oregon and Cascade Summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molson, Washington</span> Community in Okanogan County, Washington, United States

Molson is in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. By road, the community is 15.1 miles east of Oroville. The ghost town of Old Molson is 1.7 miles south of the Canada–United States border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 97 Alternate</span> Highway in Washington

U.S. Route 97 Alternate is an alternate route of US 97 within the state of Washington. It runs for 40 miles (64 km) from Wenatchee to Chelan, following the west bank of the Columbia River opposite from US 2 and US 97. The highway travels through sparsely-populated areas along the river and passes near the Rocky Reach Dam and through the town of Entiat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad</span> Transport company

The Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates 158 miles of track serving the Kitsap Peninsula, Grays Harbor County and Centralia, Washington in the U.S. State of Washington, and is headquartered in Centralia, where the railroad interchanges with the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad has been a subsidiary of the Genesee and Wyoming since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Transcon</span> Railroad route in the United States

The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.

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.

Steamboats operated on the Wenatchee Reach of the Columbia River from the late 1880s to 1915. The main base of operations was Wenatchee, Washington, located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers, 465 miles (748 km) from the mouth of the river. Operations were mainly between Wenatchee and Bridgeport. Rapids below Wenatchee and above Bridgeport prevented safe navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 97 in Washington</span> Segment of American highway

U.S. Route 97 in the U.S. state of Washington is a 322-mile (518 km) route which traverses from the Oregon state line at the northern end of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge in Maryhill, north to the Canada–US border in Okanogan County near Oroville. The highway serves major cities such as Goldendale, Yakima, Ellensburg and Wenatchee before continuing towards the Alaska Highway at the Yukon border as British Columbia Highway 97. Along the length of the roadway, US 97 is concurrent with State Route 14 in Maryhill, Interstate 82 (I-82) and US 12 between Union Gap and Ellensburg, I-90 briefly in Ellensburg, US 2 between Peshastin and rural Douglas County and SR 20 near Omak. An alternate route connects the highway with Chelan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Northwest Corridor</span> Higher-speed rail corridor in the United States

The Pacific Northwest Corridor or the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor is one of eleven federally designated higher-speed rail corridors in the United States and Canada. The 466-mile (750 km) corridor extends from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, British Columbia, via Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region. It was designated a high-speed rail corridor on October 20, 1992, as the one of five high-speed corridors in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).

The Scenic Subdivision or Scenic Sub is a railroad line running about 155 miles (249 km) from Seattle, Washington to Wenatchee, Washington. It is operated by BNSF Railway as part of their Northern Transcon. This route includes the Cascade Tunnel, as well as the 1893 site of the "last spike" near Scenic, Washington, which marked the completion for the Great Northern Railway transcontinental railway line built by James J. Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway</span> Defunct Canadian railway line

The Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (VV&E) was a railway line proposed to connect Metro Vancouver with the Kootenays, in Canada. After acquisition by the Great Northern Railway (GN), most of the route was built, but a passenger through service, using the arranged running rights on the tracks of other companies, never transpired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spokane and British Columbia Railway</span> Railway between Canada and the United States, 1900-1925

The Spokane and British Columbia Railway, originally the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, was a short-lived standard-gauge railway based out of Republic, Washington, United States. The S&BC operated between Republic, Grand Forks, British Columbia, and Lynch Creek, British Columbia. The line was locally known as the "Hot Air Line" in both the Boundary District of British Columbia and Republic due to the shaky nature of the company's financing and the grandiose nature of its publicity. The company was incorporated in 1900 in Republic and was bought out in 1901 by the Canadian Republic & Grand Forks Railway Company, who retained the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway name after the buy out. The company reorganized under the Spokane and British Columbia Railway name in 1905 which operated service on the line through 1919 and was officially stricken from the active corporation listing in 1925.

The Spokane Falls & Northern (SF&N) is a historic railroad that operated in northeast Washington state. The SF&N initially connected the city of Spokane with the Canada–United States border at Waneta, British Columbia.

References

  1. "Cascade and Columbia River Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company".
  2. Kirk, Ruth; Carmela Alexander (2003). Exploring Washington's Past. University of Washington Press. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-295-97443-9.
  3. "New G. N. Line from Oroville to Wenatchee". Railway Age Gazette. 57 (5): 202–204. 1914-07-31.
  4. Railway Mileposts: British Columbia - Volume II: The Southern Routes - From the Crowsnest to the Coquihalla - Including the Great Northern and Kettle Valley Routes, Roger G. Burrows, Railway Milepost Books, 1984
  5. EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION - Cascade and Columbia River Railroad Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine (PDF). Railroad Retirement Board. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
  6. "RailAmerica's Empire". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing. June 2010.