The remnants of the Marys River railroad bridge in Corvallis looked like this on May 14, 2026.
The Portland & Western Railroad does not plan to rebuild the Marys River railroad bridge in Corvallis unless funding somehow becomes available.
The railroad’s Washington, DC-based lawyer made that point in an answer to a complaint with the federal Surface Transportation Board.
The complaint was filed May 8 by VFRC LLC, a firm associated with Venell Farms, claiming that Portland & Western and its parent company, Genesee & Wyoming, had an obligation to fix the bridge and provide rail service to part of the so-called Bailey Branch south of Corvallis.
The bridge collapsed when a train went across it on Jan. 4, 2025. Rebuilding the wooden structure would cost about $4 million and replacing it with a steel bridge would cost $6.5 million, the railroad said in response to the complaint.
The railroad said only 174 railcars (87 carloads and 87 empties) moved over the bridge in 2024, the year before the bridge collapsed.
“Given the high cost of rebuilding the bridge and the anticipated low volume and revenues from traffic that would move to and from the Bailey Branch extension, Railroad was justified in not moving forward to rebuild the bridge…,” the railroad said.
Further, it said, if it determines that “funding will not be available to rebuild the bridge,” the railroad would be justified in seeking the board’s approval to discontinue service. It didn’t say where “funding” would come from.
The railroad also said it was flooding, not lack of sufficient repairs following a 2022 fire, that caused the bridge to collapse. It also disputed several other points made in the complaint.
Along with its answer, the Portland & Western on May 28 filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.
Readers can follow what happens next. Filings before the Surface Transportation Board can be read online, and the filings in this case can be found here. (hh)
Hasso, Thanks for the update.
Did you notice the cyclone fencing underneath the bridge? The homeless have damaged it (not the first time) and created jagged edges that stick out into the path. Every time I ride my bike through this blind turn I hope there isn’t an oncoming rider causing me to crash into it.
I spoke with a P&W employee last week that said the recent derailment in Toledo, which was cleaned up by Rick Franklin, cost the railroad a cool $1.3 million. Add that to the $81,600 that the DEQ fined the railroad for the urea that was dumped into the Mary’s river and you’re talking real money. Bringing into question the railroad’s profitability. And, given the condition of some of the other aging trestles, one can’t help but wonder when, not if, the next derailment/bridge collapse is going to take place since there’s no requirement for the railroad to maintain their trestles to any particular standard. There is a rather long trestle near Summit, OR where a video shows the trestle bending noticeably as the train traverses the span. Again, causing one to wonder when that’s going to fail. And, if you believe flooding was the cause of the Mary’s River span to collapse, I’ve got a rickety bridge in Arizona to sell you. It’s a matter of record that a fire had weakened the structure and, hence, it was an accident waiting to happen.
The homeless lived under the trestle and burned the trestle to keep warm as confirmed by neighbors and the homeless themselves. Then the whole thing caught on fire! It wasn’t until after that that the trestle failed when the train went over it.
Making the entire Bailey Branch a Rail-to-Trail would be the best outcome.
This is a superb idea and given the branch lies in Benton County where bicycles are well supported as a viable, alternative, and necessary method of transportation by the majority of the population (unlike Linn County and Albany), there’s potential.
Hasso, you were just enjoying your time off…..This whole thing will not have a happy ending…Railroads are like horse & buggy days….too bad…