Oregon Pacific Railroad is a short-line railroad operating two disconnected routes: one in southeast Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 and the former Southern Pacific

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

 Molalla Branch between Canby

Canby, Oregon

Canby is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 15,829 at the 2010 census. It is located on Oregon Route 99E, two miles northeast of Barlow.-History:...

 and Liberal, Oregon

Liberal, Oregon

Liberal is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It lies on Oregon Route 213 between Mulino and Molalla.The community of Liberal grew up three miles south of Mulino on the south side of the Molalla River. The Liberal crossroads is located at the mutual corners of...

.

Dick Samuels, a local businessman owning a scrap steel business, purchased the rights to salvage the remnants of the Portland Traction Company's remaining freight railroad between Portland and Boring, Oregon. The Portland Terminal Railroad was once an interurban railroad but was owned 50/50 by the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads since the mid-1950s to handle the remaining freight business along the road. By the mid-1980s the remaining freight business east of Milwaukie

Milwaukie, Oregon

Milwaukie is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1848 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city, known as the Dogwood City of the West, was incorporated in...

 was virtually gone as local land uses shifted from farming and industrial to housing. Some of the last shipments along the railroad was TriMet

TriMet

TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...

's first light rail cars, delivered to its Ruby Junction shops which was located on a former Portland Traction Company branchline that had been abandoned years before.

Despite the loss of most business, there were still a handful of shippers in an industrial park located in the northern part of Milwaukie, along the Portland city boundary that continued to reliably ship by train. Mr. Samuels purchased the approximately five miles of track from Portland to Milwaukie and formed the East Portland Traction Company to continue rail service to these customers. Some of the customers include the Americold, Darigold, and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission

Oregon Liquor Control Commission

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is a government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OLCC was created by an act of the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1933, days after the repeal of prohibition, as a means of providing control over the distribution, sales and consumption of alcoholic...

.

In the mid-1990s the East Portland Traction Company ran an excursion train known as Samtrak

Samtrak

Samtrak was a heritage railroad that operated in Oregon from 1993 to 2001.Samtrak was a passenger train operated by the Oregon Pacific Railroad, and named after the owner of the railroad, Dick Samuels. The trains ran a 3.8 mile route from OMSI to the foot of S.E. 11th Avenue, with a stop at Oaks...

 (named after the owner as well as a play on Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

, the national passenger railroad company) and ran trains from OMSI to Portland's Sellwood

Sellwood, Portland, Oregon

Sellwood-Moreland is a neighborhood on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River in Southeast Portland, Oregon, bordering Westmoreland to the north, Eastmoreland to the east, and the city of Milwaukie to the south...

 neighborhood. The train itself was modest with a small General Electric 45-ton locomotive, an open-air coach made from an old flatcar and a converted former logging railroad caboose. While the excursion trains eventually stopped running, the Oregon Pacific Railroad continues to host special excursions featuring the popular Holiday Express trains featuring the Southern Pacific 4449

Southern Pacific 4449

Southern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of steam locomotives. The GS-4 is a streamlined 4-8-4 type steam locomotive...

, Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 restored steam locomotives, as well as several speeder

Speeder

A speeder is a maintenance of way motorized vehicle formerly used on railroads around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move quickly to and...

 (motorcar) runs every year.

In 1993, the Oregon Pacific expanded its operations by leasing the Southern Pacific's Molalla Branch connecting Canby with Molalla

Molalla, Oregon

Molalla is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 5,647 at the 2000 census.-History:Molalla was named after the Molalla River, which in turn was named for the Molala, a Native American tribe that inhabited the area. William H. Vaughan took up a donation land claim in...

. This approximately 10 mile route serves several shippers within Canby as well as in the small community of Liberal. However a couple of miles of track into Molalla were abandoned after the loss of all shippers in the town. This operation was originally known as the Molalla Western Railroad, but after a few years both railroads were combined under the Oregon Pacific Railroad banner.

Today, the Oregon Pacific continues to operate its two railroads to provide freight service to its shippers. It also allows organizations or private individuals to charter a train, has operated trains featured in at least one movie and several television shows, and operates the popular Christmas time Holiday Express trains.

Roster

Number	Builder	Model	Built	Former	Notes
45	GE GE Transportation Systems GE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...	45-ton GE 45-ton switcher The GE 45-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by GE between 1940 and 1956.-Equipment:The locomotive was equipped with two Cummins diesel engines, each driving a generator which, in turn, drove one of the two traction motors, one per truck. In early models, the second axle on each...	unknown	Unknown scrap yard	Stored out of service. One engine was removed and replaced with a hydraulic boom for lifting rails and ties from the right-of-way
100	EMD	SW1 EMD SW1 The EMD SW1 was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at La Grange, Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of 600 hp switcher from EMD, succeeding the SW and SC...	1952	Portland Traction Company 100	One of two locomotives purchased by the Portland Traction Company for this route. Assigned to the Portland-Milwaukie Line
101	GE	80-ton GE 80-ton switcher The GE 80-ton switcher is a locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties around railheads and ports.- Military version :...	1956	Pacific Lumber Company	Stored out of service as a parts locomotive
187	EMD	NW5 EMD NW5 The EMD NW5 was a 1,000 hp road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between December 1946 and February 1947....	1946	Great Northern/Burlington Northern	Stored out of service awaiting restoration
500	GE	80-ton	1950s	U.S. Army	Stored out of service as a parts locomotive
501	GE	80-ton	1950s	U.S. Army	Leased to CDL Pacific Grain as a grain elevator switching locomotive
801	EMD	SW8 EMD SW8 An EMD SW8 is a diesel shunting/switching locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of ....	1951	Great Northern/Burlington Northern	Assigned to the Canby-Liberal line
802	EMD	SW8	1953	Southern Pacific	Currently being restored
901	EMD	SW9 EMD SW9 An EMD SW9 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between December 1950 and December 1953. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 12-cylinder engine, producing ....	1950s	Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway , also known as the Crandic is a Class III railroad operating in the US state of Iowa.-History:...	Rebuilt from a SW8. Assigned to the Canby-Liberal Line
1201	GMD General Motors Diesel General Motors Diesel was a Canadian railway diesel locomotive manufacturer.-History:General Motors Diesel, Limited, was created in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro Motive Division of General Motors located in the United States...	SW1200RS EMD SW1200 An EMD SW1200 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generated 1200 horsepower...	1953	Canadian Pacific	Rebuilt from a SW-9. Assigned to the Portland-Milwaukie Line
1413	GMD	GMD1 GMD GMD1 The GMD GMD1 was a diesel locomotive produced by General Motors Diesel , the Canadian subsidiary of General Motors Electro-Motive Division, between August 1958 and April 1960. This switcher locomotive was powered by a 12-cylinder EMD 567C diesel engine, capable of producing 1,200 horsepower. The...	1959	Canadian National	Purchased in 2010, awaiting modifications prior to entering service
5100	GE	70-ton GE 70-ton switcher The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November, 1942. These...	1949	Southern Pacific Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....	Stored out of service. Currently painted in Southern Pacific "as-delivered" paint scheme