The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company is a short-line American railroad founded in 1906 as the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) by sugar magnate, developer, and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by many engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved, the line was established in part to provide San Diego with a direct rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad lines in El Centro, California.
The Siskiyou Trail stretched from California's Central Valley to Oregon's Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path. Originally based on existing Native American foot trails winding their way through river valleys, the Siskiyou Trail provided the shortest practical travel path between early settlements in California and Oregon.
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.
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 California Northern Railroad is one of several Class III short-line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. It operates over Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) tracks under a long-term lease.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and formerly in Australia.
The Kyle Railroad is a regional railroad line that runs from North Central Kansas into Eastern Colorado. It is based in Phillipsburg, Kansas and runs on a 556 miles (895 km) track, mostly the former Rock Island Railroad Chicago to Denver main line. The Kyle was owned by RailAmerica from 2002 to 2012. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. bought RailAmerica in late 2012. As of 2023, KYLE holds 556 total miles, has a maximum capacity of 286,000. KYLE also has two interchanges: BNSF(Courtland, Kansas and Concordia, Kansas); Union Pacific.
Oregon Route 58, also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon. The route, signed east–west, runs in a southeast–northwest direction, connecting U.S. Route 97 north of Chemult with Interstate 5 south of Eugene. It links the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon, crossing the Cascade Range at Willamette Pass. OR 58 is generally a modern two-lane highway with a speed limit of 55 mph (88 km/h), built through the Willamette National Forest in the 1930s.
The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding company RailTex before being purchased by RailAmerica in 2000. In 2012, the company was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming, its current owner.
Siskiyou Pass is a historic mountain pass in the Siskiyou Mountains of Jackson County. It is the most used pass in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) made the Siskiyou Trail over the pass before pioneers traversed it with their wagons, while still later it evolved into a stage road, a railroad line, and a highway route. The name Siskiyou is believed to be derived from Cree, meaning "bob-tailed horse". Siskiyou Pass is west of the summit of Interstate 5, which is known as Siskiyou Summit.
The Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and California. The formerly separate Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests were administratively combined in 2004. Now, the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest ranges from the crest of the Cascade Range west into the Siskiyou Mountains, covering almost 1.8 million acres (7,300 km2). Forest headquarters are located in Medford, Oregon.
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 history of steamboats on the Oregon Coast begins in the late 19th century. Before the development of modern road and rail networks, transportation on the coast of Oregon was largely water-borne. This article focuses on inland steamboats and similar craft operating in, from south to north on the coast: Rogue River, Coquille River, Coos Bay, Umpqua River, Siuslaw Bay, Yaquina Bay, Siletz River, and Tillamook Bay. The boats were all very small, nothing like the big sternwheelers and propeller boats that ran on the Columbia River or Puget Sound. There were many of them, however, and they came to be known as the "mosquito fleet."
The Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad / Southern Pacific Railroad, between Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska, and the San Francisco Bay Area, over the grade of the first transcontinental railroad which had been opened on May 10, 1869. Passenger trains that operated over the line included the Overland Flyer, later renamed the Overland Limited, which also included a connection to Chicago. Although these passenger rail trains are no longer in operation, the Overland Route remains a common name for the line from Northern California to Chicago, now owned entirely by the Union Pacific. Although now primarily used for freight, a few portions still provide the route for the California Zephyr passenger train.
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 Pengra Pass rail route, also known as the Natron Cutoff, the Cascade Subdivision, or the Cascade Line, is a Union Pacific Railroad line connecting Eugene, Oregon, with Klamath Falls, Oregon. Construction of the line began in 1905 and was completed in the mid-1920s. Its name denotes a mountain pass on the Lane County–Klamath County boundary in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Willamette Pass. The line heads southeast from Eugene, up the Cascades and over Pengra Pass, then southward beside U.S. Route 97 to Klamath Falls, where it splits in two, each track continuing into California. The route has at least 22 tunnels, several snow sheds and multiple bridges across canyons.
The Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad (POTB) was a 101-mile (163 km) shortline railroad in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Purchased from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company 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.
The transportation system of Oregon is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure.
The Coos Bay Rail Line is a 134-mile (216 km) railroad line from the Willamette Valley to the Port of Coos Bay on the Oregon Coast and Coquille, Oregon, in the United States. It is owned and operated by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. The rail is operated by a subsidiary for the Port of Coos Bay - Coos Bay Rail Line Inc.
