Portland & Western to acquire rail line from Port of Tillamook Bay

Portland & Western Railroad Inc. (PNWR) has filed a notice with the Surface Transportation Board seeking approval to acquire from the Port of Tillamook Bay about 1 mile of rail line near Banks, Oregon.

PNWR and the port entered into a purchase agreement dated April 9, according to a notice posted today in the Federal Register. The notice states that PNWR holds trackage rights over a portion of the line, which it acquired in connection with the unrelated purchase of a parallel line.

After the transaction, PNWR will operate the line and the parallel line, and will no longer need to exercise the incidental trackage rights. The notice also states that there are no customers on the line and that the port no longer has railroad operating employees.

Owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc., the PNWR earlier this year marked 30 years of service in Oregon and Washington. Spanning 478 miles, the regional interchanges with BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.