Port of Tillamook Bay

Company History: The POTB was established in 1952 to take over the U.S. Navy railroad at the former Tillamook Naval Blimp Base on the Oregon coast. The line connected with a Southern Pacific branchline. In 1986, SP granted POTB trackage rights on the 97 miles to Hillsboro. In 1990, Southern Pacific sold the line from Shefflin (just short of Hillsboro) to Tillamook Bay to the state of Oregon for operation by POTB. A mix of GP9’s (one of which was painted like a cow in a nod toward Tillamook’s famous dairy industry) and SD9’s were included in the deal. In addition to freight service, the line hosted dinner and excursion trains. In 2007, storms lashed the Coast Range and wiped out the POTB mainline along the Salmonberry River – even damaging tunnels on the line. There was talk of restoring the line but the traffic didn’t justify it. The east end was leased to Portland & Western to serve a lumber mill in Banks. The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad operated tourist trains on the isolated west end.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.