Portland & Western Railroad
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P&W EMD SD9 #1851
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| Reporting mark | PNWR, WPRR |
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| Locale | Oregon, United States |
| Dates of operation | 1995–present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Salem, Oregon |
The Portland and Western Railroad (reporting mark PNWR) is a 466-mile (750 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 (reporting mark WPRR).
PNWR's tracks lie entirely within Oregon, extending from Astoria to Portland along the Columbia River, from Portland to Eugene through the Willamette Valley, and along several spurs through the Northern Oregon Coast Range.
The Portland & Western's roots are in sister company Willamette and Pacific Railroad, founded in 1993. This company was created to take over operations on many branchlines of the Southern Pacific, a Class I railroad. These branches included the Toledo Branch from Albany to Toledo and the Westside Branch from Monroe to St. Joseph (near McMinnville), plus the Bailey Branch west from Monroe to a sawmill, the Dallas Branch from Gerlinger to Dallas, the Willamina Branch from Whiteson (near Amity) to Willamina, and the southern portion of the Newberg Branch from St. Joseph to Springbrook (north of Newberg). Lumber products and paper are the predominate commodity on these branches, along with some agricultural products from various shippers. The Cascade Steel Rolling Mill in McMinnville is an important shipper as well, and propane shipments are handled to several distributors.
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Wikipedia