Portland and Western's Toledo Branch weaves through America's premier timber producing lands in western Oregon. This backwoods railroad serves a Georgia Pacific paper mill in the small town of Toledo. Five days a week, trains make the seventy-five mile journey over the branch line between its namesake town and Albany in the lush Willamette Valley.

Part 2 of this series will focus on the east end of this former Southern Pacific branch line with an insightful combination of historic images and modern-day operations. We begin at the remote community of Summit and follow the weaving course of the Mary's River down the east side of the heavily forested Coast Range. Aerial photography provides an amazing perspective of the more isolated portions of the branch.

EMD GP39-2's and GP40P slug sets power trains of containerboard, wood chips, and lumber through the rugged coastal mountains. The railroad crosses numerous secluded trestles and passes graveyards of old mills with a history as rich as the beautiful scenery that surrounds it. Leaving the woods, the line traverses busy city streets and races through open farm land before meeting the Willamette River and the Union Pacific main line at Albany.

2 hours 9 minutes

Frame grabs:

The eastbound Toledo Patch crests the summit of the Coast Range.

PNWR 2313 rolls through a natural tunnel in the woods as it approaches Blodgett.

Gliding down-grade over the 11th crossing of the Mary's River between Blodgett and Harris.

Looking through the Harris Covered Bridge at The eastbound Toledo Patch.

East of Wrens, the former turntable deck at Yaquina serves as a span over the Mary's River.

PNWR 3001 leads the train through the Oregon State University campus at Corvallis.

The evening Toledo Hauler heads through Ashahr between Albany and Corvallis.

Trains cross the Willamette River as they enter Albany at the east end of the Toledo Branch.

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