Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad
2005 excursion on the POTB
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| Locale | Washington and Tillamook counties, Oregon, United States |
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| Dates of operation | 1986–2007 |
| Predecessor | Southern Pacific Transportation Company |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 101 miles (163 km) |
| Website | potb |
The Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad (POTB) is 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 is between Hillsboro and Tillamook.
The predecessor to the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad was a line built by the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company between 1906 and 1911. The line, whose reporting mark was "PR&N", 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 line became the Tillamook Branch Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1916.
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 7 miles (11 km) 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.
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