The Forest Grove branch is an abandoned railway line in the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, in the United States. It was built by the

Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban streetcar, interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland, Oregon, Portland to Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. History Service from Portland to Salem, Oregon, Salem began in ...

and ran from Garden Home to Forest Grove via Beaverton and Hillsboro. The

MAX Blue Line The MAX Blue Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of MAX Light Rail, it connects Hillsboro, Oregon, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Oregon, Beaverton, Portland, and Gres ...

uses part of the right-of-way between Beaverton and Hillsboro.

History

Oregon Electric

The

completed the branch from its main line at Garden Home to Forest Grove in 1908. At the time of completion the branch, like the main line, was electrified at . This was converted to in 1912. Passenger service ended on the Forest Grove branch in July 1932. Electrified freight service continued until

dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (US: gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, ...

in 1945. In 1933, the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

blocked a proposal by the Oregon Electric Railway to extend the line further west to serve the Stimson lumber mill in Steghers, citing the parallel

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

line. Under pressure from the city of Portland to vacate Front Avenue, the Oregon Electric filed in 1941 to abandon its original main line into the downtown, and with it the Forest Grove branch between Garden Home and Beaverton. The Oregon Electric constructed new connections to the Southern Pacific in Beaverton and Tigard and obtained trackage rights.

Burlington Northern

The Oregon Electric was merged into the new

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

in 1970. The Burlington Northern abandoned the branch between Hillsboro and Orenco in 1977. The abandonment eliminated a low overpass over East Main Street, and mile of

street-running A street running train is a train which runs on a Railway track, track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being ref ...

on Washington Street, in Hillsboro. BN trains served the Hillsboro–Forest Grove section via trackage rights over the Southern Pacific's Tillamook Branch. The Burlington Northern abandoned the original right-of-way through Beaverton in 1984 following the construction of a new connecting track to the Southern Pacific's parallel line. The track was built west of Beaverton, passing under the

Tualatin Valley Highway The Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 (see Oregon highways and routes) is an Oregon highway which passes through the Tualatin Valley, between the cities of McMinnville and Beaverton. Between McMinnville and Forest Grove, the highway is signed ...

Light rail

Discussion of what became the Westside extension of the

began in 1979, and

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

was chosen as the preferred mode in 1983. As late as 1994, all light rail alternatives assumed that the line from Beaverton to Hillsboro would follow the Forest Grove branch's right-of-way, then still in use, as far as Orenco. From Orenco, it would use the abandoned right-of-way to Hillsboro. This routing would require an at-grade crossing of the Forest Grove branch near the present location of Quatama station. In June 1994,

TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...

reached an agreement with the Burlington Northern, Southern Pacific, and

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

that made these arrangements unnecessary. The Burlington Northern would abandon its line from Beaverton to Orenco and reach the remaining part of the Forest Grove via trackage rights over the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. The entire routing of Burlington Northern trains in the Portland would change, with BN trains using the Union Pacific's

Steel Bridge The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries ...

to cross the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

in downtown Portland. The new light rail line opened on September 12, 1998.

Portland and Western

In 1987–1988 the Burlington Northern attempted to divest itself of of branchline track in Oregon, including the Forest Grove branch. The effort stalled after legal opposition. The

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

, successor to the Burlington Northern, sold the remainder of the Forest Grove to the

Portland and Western Railroad The Portland and Western Railroad is a Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamett ...

in 1997. The Portland and Western, a shortline railroad founded in 1995, had already leased a number of Southern Pacific lines in the area, including the parallel Tillamook line. Under the Portland and Western the line is known as the Forest Grove District. In 2010, the line handled one freight movement per week. A study by the

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway De ...

stated that it was in "poor condition." The last freight movement occurred in 2015, and the Portland and Western filed to abandon in 2023.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{cite journal , last=Wickersham , first=L. B. , title=The Operation of the Oregon Electric Railway , journal =

General Electric Review A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

, date=November 1914 , volume=XVII , issue=11 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66tMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1078 , pages=1078–1082 Railway lines opened in 1908 Rail lines in Oregon