Oregon Pacific Railroad (1997)
| Reporting mark | OPR |
|---|---|
| Locale | Oregon, United States |
| Dates of operation | 1991– |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon |
Oregon Pacific Railroad (reporting mark OPR) is a short-line railroad operating two disconnected routes: one in southeast Portland, Oregon, and the former Southern Pacific Molalla Branch between Canby and Liberal, Oregon.
Dick Samuels, a local businessman owning a scrap steel business, purchased the rights to salvage the remnants of the Portland Traction Company's remaining freight railroad between Portland and Boring, Oregon. The Portland Terminal Railroad was once an interurban railroad but was owned 50/50 by the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads since the mid-1950s to handle the remaining freight business along the road. By the mid-1980s the remaining freight business east of Milwaukie was virtually gone as local land uses shifted from farming and industrial to housing. Some of the last shipments along the railroad was TriMet's first light rail cars, delivered to its Ruby Junction shops which was located on a former Portland Traction Company branch line that had been abandoned years before.
Despite the loss of most business, there were still a handful of shippers in an industrial park located in the northern part of Milwaukie, along the Portland city boundary that continued to reliably ship by train. Mr. Samuels purchased the approximately five miles of track from Portland to Milwaukie and formed the East Portland Traction Company to continue rail service to these customers. Some of the customers include Americold, Darigold, and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
In 1993, the East Portland Traction Company began running an excursion train known as Samtrak (named after the owner as well as a play on Amtrak, the national passenger railroad company) and ran trains from OMSI to Portland's Sellwood neighborhood. The train itself was modest with a small General Electric 45-ton locomotive, an open-air coach made from an old flatcar and a converted former logging railroad caboose. While the excursion trains eventually stopped running in 2001, the Oregon Pacific Railroad does continue to host special excursions featuring the popular Holiday Express trains using Southern Pacific 4449 and Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 restored steam locomotives, as well as several speeder (motorcar) runs every year.
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