Portland Terminal Railroad

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 (as elsewhere), rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.

The first railway in Oregon was proposed by Byron J. Pengra, Surveyor General of Oregon, along the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road in 1864, but Oregon's first railroad ended up being the Oregon Portage Railroad.Henry Villard's Oregon Railway and Navigation Company established transcontinental rail lines with Northern Pacific in 1880, then with Union Pacific in 1881 (through the latter's Oregon Short Line).

As of 2004, the state of Oregon has over 2,400 mi (3,862 km) (route-miles) of track, and 170 mi (274 km) of railroad right-of-way after peaking in the 1930s at about 4,350 miles (7,001 km) of track. Oregon is served by two Class 1 railroads, which account for over 1,100 miles (1,770 km) of trackage, and over twenty Class 2 and Class 3 operators. Three Amtrak routes serve the state, primarily through the Willamette Valley and south-central Oregon. Rail is a key element of the mass transit system in the city of Portland and surrounding communities. And numerous tourist railways operate in the state.

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