The Coos Bay Rail Line is a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line from the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...

to the Port of Coos Bay on the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

and

Coquille, Oregon Coquille is a city in, and the county seat of, Coos County, Oregon, United States. The population was 4,015 at the 2020 census. The primary economic base is the timber industry. The city derives its name from the Coquille Native American tribe. ...

, in the United States. It is owned and operated by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. The rail is operated by a subsidiary for the Port of Coos Bay - Coos Bay Rail Line Inc.

History

On September 21, 2007, Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad (CORP) elected to shut down most of its Coos Bay branch.Longshore Shipping News Website
/ref> The track was closed between

Vaughn, Oregon Vaughn is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located about south of Noti in the foothills of the Central Oregon Coast Range near Noti Creek. Author Ralph Friedman described Vaughn as "a mill in the meadows". ...

(west of Noti) 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. Some local opinion regarded this action unfavorably, as the railroad asked for state funds to repair their private rail line. On October 23, 2007, the Port of Coos Bay 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. Open swing-span railroad bridge in Reedsport, Oregon (2009)

Open swing-span railroad bridge in Reedsport, Oregon (2009)

On November 21, 2008, the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Interstat ...

ordered CORP to sell part of the branch to the Port of Coos Bay for $16.6 million. The segment links Danebo, Oregon, in northwest

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, and Cordes siding, just north of North Bend. The price was much less than what

RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...

, 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 repaired the tunnels that led to the line's closure. The Port reopened the line as Coos Bay Rail Link. Service from Eugene to North Bend (111 miles) began in October 2011. In 2012, the railroad is continuing with a $30 million rehabilitation of the line funded primarily by grants. Work is going forward in fixing the railroad bridge into North Bend and track infrastructure to Coquille as well as repairs to track, bridges, and crossings on the entire line. The Eugene '' Register-Guard'' reported in its October 14, 2012, edition that the first locomotive to enter North Bend/Coos Bay in 5 years did so on October 12, 2012. It did not mark official reopening of this stretch of track. The locomotive was part of a work train hauling materials into the area to do repairs on the line. On April 29, 2013, the railroad ran its first freight train out of Coquille, pulling the first rail cars of plywood from the Roseburg Forest Products mill in Coquille in five and a half years. This run marked the restoration of service in the entire CBR line. Also in that year, the CBR and the Port signed a ten year agreement permitting the railroad to be the regulator operator of the rail line. In early 2014, the publication ''

Railway Age ''Railway Age'' is an American trade magazine for the rail transport industry. It was founded in 1856 in Chicago (the United States' major railroad hub) and is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. History The magazine' ...

'' selected the railroad as the 2014 Short Line Railroad of the Year.

References

{{Reflist , colwidth = 30em , refs =

External links

Official site
Transportation in Coos County, Oregon Oregon railroads 2011 establishments in Oregon Railway companies established in 2011