The deadline for finishing this Albany railroad project has been missed, but there’s been a lot of progress lately, including the partial installation of some actual track. The Portland & Western Railroad has been building what’s called the Santiam Lead, a section of track that parallels the Union Pacific mainline for about three city blocks.
Passersby can see that work has resumed on the so-called Santiam Lead, a stretch of new railroad track parallel to the Union Pacific Mainline in Albany. High time, too. Under an agreement between the Portland & Western Railroad and ODOT-Rail, the project is supposed to be completed by Dec. 31.
I was riding my bike along Albany’s Cox Creek path on Thursday (Nov. 21) — a sunny, cold and windy day — when a train carrying logs was being assembled at the nearby Millersburg yard of the Portland & Western Railroad. The yard figures in the long-standing effort to do more train building there and […]
There’s a story behind this passenger rail car, which was parked under the Albany overpass a few days ago. To get it, I went to Bob Melbo, who has had the answer to every railroad-connected question I have ever asked him. The lettering says the car belongs to the California Northern, a subsidiary of RailAmerica. […]
A paving crew from Knife River Corp. was making swift work Wednesday of resurfacing a section of Albany’s Water Avenue. The street is being repaved after the Portland & Western rebuilt its rail line in the middle of the street from Main to Harrison. The section from Harrison to Geary — both rails and pavement […]
The Portland & Western Railroad has made good progress on the track rehabilitation project that started this week on Albany’s Water Avenue east of Main Street. As you can see, by Wednesday afternoon the former roller-coaster track had been replaced or straightened. When the track work is done, a contractor for the city, Knife River Corp., will repave the […]
Just another day on the RR track
When you’re riding your bike around town on a sunny afternoon, you have the chance to stop and take a closer look anytime you see something, well, not exactly spellbinding, but unusual anyway.
Tags: Oregon Electric, Portland & Western, Railroads in Albany