Railroad Development in Oregon

The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, linking California to the Eastern United States. But it took many more years for Oregon to become a part of the national railroad network.

I wrote in an earlier post about Byron Pengra, who started a military road in Oregon in 1864, intending to build a railroad along this line. But his dream didn’t become a reality for many more years. Although many in the state saw the need for a rail connection to California, progress was slow. The rugged terrain and harsh climate of the mountains in Oregon made construction difficult.

There were small railroads in Oregon prior to the national Transcontinental Railroad. In 1862, the Oregon Portage Railroad began operating. It was a narrow-gauge track that ran from the Columbia River to the Willamette River, enabling river traffic to by-pass the Cascades Rapids on the Columbia. Separate steamboats operated on the lower Columbia and upper Columbia, with the Oregon Portage Railroad transferring goods around the rapids. This lasted until the Columbia locks were built later in the 19th century.

In the Portland area, there were a few small railroads that also predated the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1868, the Oregon Central Railroad (East Side Company) began construction along the east bank of the Willamette River, with a competing company, the Oregon Central Railroad (West Side Company) starting construction the very next day.

The East Side Company became the first railroad to operate in Portland in 1869. It was reorganized to become the Oregon & California Railroad Co. (O&C). The purpose of the rechartered O&C was to connect Oregon to California through the fertile Willamette Valley. But due to the difficulties of building in the rough terrain, the line didn’t reach Eugene until 1871 and Roseburg in 1872. Further economic and construction difficulties kept the railroad from reaching California until 1876, and it didn’t connect as far as Sacramento until 1887.

Meanwhile, by the end of 1871, the West Side Company extended its line to Hillsboro, Oregon, to the west of Portland.

Linking Oregon into the original Transcontinental Railroad didn’t happen until the Union Pacific line from Wyoming hooked into the Oregon R&N at Huntington, Oregon in 1884. Because the Union Pacific was slow to connect with the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Pacific became the first transcontinental connection between Oregon and the East. The Northern Pacific linked to rail lines out of Portland in 1880, and ultimately also had lines into Tacoma, Washington. After the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific lines were completed, the two railroads were in direct competition, which drove prices for rail transportation down.

Railroad construction focused both on addressing Oregon’s geographic challenges and on reaching distant markets. Rail lines were built from Portland to the California state line, eastward along the Columbia River corridor, across the Blue Mountains, and along the Snake River into Idaho. By the end of the 19th century, railroads become a major catalyst for growth in Oregon.

Throughout the 19th century, railroads transformed the environment and culture wherever they were located. The same was true in Oregon. While water routes remained important in the state, farmers and ranchers finally had rails to transport their goods to markets across the nation. Moreover, the O&C offered land grants to settlers who agreed to live along its route, which helped to encourage settlement in sparsely populated parts of Oregon.

The purpose of my continuing research into Oregon rail history is because I am beginning to think about the next novel in my historical series about Oregon. I know the railroad will be a part of it. But I haven’t yet decided when in the development of railroads in the state this next novel will take place. Obviously, that will be important to settling on my plot.

I don’t think my characters can wait until 1883, when Oregon first had a transcontinental connection. So most likely, one aspect of the plot will deal with how my characters support the building of smaller lines in Oregon.

For more on railroads in Oregon, see The History of the Oregon and California Railroad, by John Tilson Ganoe, The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Sept. 1924), pp. 236-283.