This is the first in a series of Railroad History Caches
highlight history of active rail lines in Oregon
The Cornelius Pass Railroad
Tunnel was built in 1911 by United Railways, an electric interurban
railroad. At one time there were electric interurban and electric
freight trains using this tunnel. There was overhead wire over the
rails to power the trains.
The line
starts in Portland, it runs along the Willamette River until Sauvie
Island, then it climbs over Cornelius Pass into this tunnel. The
line then drops into the upper Tualatin Valley heading to North
Plains. United Railways ended just outside of Banks where there was
a connection to the SP line to Tillamook and
Vernonia.
United
Railways was purchased by SP&S. It linked its other interurban
subsidiary, Oregon Electric. About a mile west of the tunnel is
Bowers Junction. Here there was the former connection to the Oregon
Electric Railway. It's track is gone. This line met up with the
main OE to Hillsboro just east of Orenco (the current MAX line).
Traces still exist of this line as it was only abandoned in the
mid-1990's. The tunnel is still in use by the Portland &
Western Railroad & the Right-of-Way is owned by the State of
Oregon.
This is my very first cache
placement (be nice). This cache is the first of several that I plan
to place in and around historic electric railways around Oregon.
Oregon has a rich interurban history. Today the only electric
railways are Tri-Met's MAX light rail line and the Portland
Streetcar.
There are other trolleys in Oregon
that the public may ride that provide a glimpse of Oregon's
Traction heritage. Astoria has a Riverfront
Trolley , Portland-Lake Oswego has the Willamette Shore
Trolley , and Brooks has the Oregon Electric Railway
Museum
Congratulations to
NeverSummer for FTF and obtaining an un-activated
geocoin!!
Cache container is a very skinney water proof ID containter,
Difficulty rating is due to GPS coord variability that has been
observed by many cachers.