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A railroad was built from Ridgway to Brockwayville, following Toby Creek and the Clarion River, the Ridgway and Clearfield Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Northwestern Mining and Exchange Company that had bought several thousand acres of land contiguous to the Shawmut lands, proceeded to develop their property in the vicinity of Shawmut.
An leads an excursion over the Coos Bay Line in 2005.OverviewHeadquartersCORPLocale-Dates of operation1995–presentTechnical4 ft 8 1⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm)Length305 miles (491 km)OtherWebsiteThe Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad ( CORP) is a operating between and,. It was previously a mainline owned by the (SP) between Eugene and (north of ) via. SP sold the route on December 31, 1994, in favor of using its route to Eugene via and.The mainline of the CORP is 305 miles (491 km). Traffic is estimated at 17,000 cars per year, consisting mainly of logs, lumber products, and plywood. CORP is a of, which acquired the railroad as part of its acquisition with in late 2012. Until 2007, CORP also operated the 136-mile (219 km) Coos Bay branch, another line once owned by the SP.On May 17, 2007, CORP was awarded a Silver in Group C for the railroad's safety record in 2006.
This award marked the first time a RailAmerica-owned railroad has earned a Harriman award. Contents.Siskiyou Pass In December 2007, CORP announced it was cutting shipments over the south of beginning 15 January 2008. Shipments from Ashland and areas north of Ashland would be re-routed north to Eugene before heading south via Klamath Falls. Reduced shipments would continue over the Siskiyou Pass until 15 April 2008 on a bi-weekly basis.On 20 March 2008, CORP announced plans to keep its Siskiyou line open between Medford and Weed, and to spend nearly $5 million on improvements to the line.CORP reopened the 95-mile (153 km) section between Ashland and Weed in November 2015, after repairing rails, ties, and bridges. The project was funded by $7.1 million of (TIGER) money, $30,000 combined from and counties, and a 25 percent match from CORP. Coos Bay Line The Coos Bay Line began in 1893 as the 26 mi (42 km) Coos Bay, Roseburg & Eastern Railroad and Navigation Company (CBR&E) bringing logs and lumber from coastal forests to the seaport town of Marshfield (later renamed Coos Bay.) purchased the CBR&E in 1906 and spent ten years building west from Eugene on its valley line to a connection with the former CBR&E at Reedsport to open this Coos Bay branch for traffic in August 1916. The completed 139 mi (224 km) branch line went from Eugene to Powers via the communities of,.
The branch climbs out of Eugene along and Noti Creek before cresting the coast range in tunnel 13 to follow Wildcat Creek and the downstream to the Pacific coast. The branch crosses the Siuslaw River six times.
The last crossing is a drawbridge at Cushman where the branch heads south parallel to the coast using tunnels to cross from one river valley to the next. Tunnel 19, with a length of 4,183 ft (1,275 m) was Southern Pacific's longest tunnel in the state of Oregon. Impressive drawbridges cross the at Reedsport and the mouth of Coos Bay. According to a timetable dating 1920, four through-passenger trains and a local between North Bend and Myrtle Point made up passenger service in the line. Passenger service ended on 4 June 1953, after many years of only one running passenger train, nicknamed 'The Owl'. The line continued to serve a number of sawmills harvesting Oregon's coastal forests.
Until the late 20th century the branch carried 14,000 carloads per year of outbound lumber, plywood, woodchips, fiberboard, and paper with inbound LP gas and chemicals for the forest products mills. Tracks beyond the mill at Coquille were abandoned and subsequently removed in the 1980s. 'In 1994 SP sold the route to Railtex (later, RailAmerica), which operated it as part of' CORP.On 21 September 2007, CORP elected to shut down most of the Coos Bay branch. The track was closed between (west of ) and (south of Coos Bay). This action was taken after it was revealed that the nine aging tunnels on the line required repairs that were internally estimated to cost up to $7 million.On 23 October 2007, the filed a $15 million lawsuit against CORP, in response to its closing of the Coos Bay Branch.
The suit claims that CORP failed to provide the required 180 days' notice that it would shut down a leased spur to the bay's North Spit.On 21 November 2008, the ordered CORP to sell part of the branch to the Port of Coos Bay for $16.6 million. The 111-mile (179 km) segment links. The price was much less than, CORP's corporate parent, had desired ($25 million), and much closer to what the port had initially offered ($15 million).
The Port completed the purchase of the line in 2009 and is currently repairing the tunnels that led to the line's closure. The Port reopened the line in 2011 as.References. ^, Genesee & Wyoming Inc., retrieved Sep 1, 2014., September 28, 2007. (Press release). May 18, 2007.
Archived from on 2007-09-27. Retrieved August 19, 2012. Conrad, Chris (15 December 2007). Retrieved 19 August 2012. Sowell, John (21 March 2008). (subscription required). Aleshire, Ilene (11 November 2015).
From the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018. ^ Larson, Henry (January 1990).
Out of the Forest, Into the Fog: SP's Coos Bay Branch. Pp. 38–43. Dill, Tom.
'Southern Pacific's Coos Bay 'Owl '. SP Trainline. Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society. P. 15. 'Coos Bay rail link: Traffic nearly doubles'. Associated Press. 21 September 2007.
Retrieved 19 August 2012. Today's Cargo News. Cargo Business News. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
Ross, Winston (21 November 2008). Retrieved 19 August 2012. 'RailAmerica restarts its engines'. Kalmbach Publishing.
Saw 2 Year: 2005 Director: Darren Lynn Bousman Cast: Tobin Bell Shawnee Smith Donnie Wahlberg Erik Knudsen Franky G Emmanuelle Vaugier Beverley Mitchell and Dina Meyer When detective Eric. Saw 3 trailer. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.
June 2010.Further reading. Burkhardt, D.C. Jesse (April 1990).
'Mountain Branchline'.: 26–33. Robertson, Donald B. Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History - Volume IV - California. Caldwell, ID:.
Stindt, Fred A. American Shortline Railway Guide - 5th Ed. Waukesha, WI:. Walker, Mike (1997). Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - California and Nevada - Post Merger Ed.
Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing.External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. from Abandoned & Active Historical Railroads of the Pacific Northwest.
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