Deep in the coastal hills of western Oregon lies a backwoods railroad
which weaves through America’s premiere timber producing lands.
Operated by the Portland and Western Railroad, the line services a
Georgia Pacific paper mill in the small town of Toledo. Trains make the
seventy-five-mile journey over the branch line nearly every day between
its namesake town of Toledo and Albany in the lush Willamette Valley.
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we will show you the west end of
the line with an insightful combination of historic images and
modern-day operations. Visit the former station of Yaquina and see
remnants of the old rail line abandoned by the Southern Pacific in
1936. See the GP paper mill and take a tour of the Western Cascade
Industries sawmill. Follow the railroad as it charts an inland course
along the Yaquina River crossing it fifteen times on rickety wooden
trestles.
With the passing of each milepost lie the ghosts of old derailments,
stations, mills, and communities long forgotten. The climax of the
journey is a stiff 2.58% mountain grade over the summit of the Coast
Range. The classic two-stroke EMD’s thunder up the west side lugging
heavy trains of containerboard.
