Partners & Friends of the PRPA
The Pacific Railroad Preservation Association is an active part of the Portland community and in the regional and nation-wide community of steam locomotive preservationists. Below you can find links to our partners and friends:
The SP&S 700 has been an important part of Portland's history, and the PRPA strives to enable the engine to continue to contribute to the culture of its home community.
The City of Portland owns the SP&S 700 as well as the other historically significant locomotives housed at the Brooklyn Roundhouse, the SP 4449 and the OR&N 197.
The locomotives are administered through the city's Parks & Recreation Bureau.
Through ORHF, the PRPA is also affiliated with the Brooklyn Action Corps.
The PRPA is also very protective of the safety of its patrons, members, and the greater public. The whole organization is active in supporting Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit organization in both the US and Canada that has prevented thousands of grade-crossing and tresspass-related fatalies through public education efforts. Several members are certified OL presenters and make appearances at schools and public events throughout the region.
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The Pacific Railroad Preservation Association is a member organization of the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF).
ORHF was founded to represent the interests of several non-profit Pacific Northwest railroad preservation societies in finding a new, permanent, publically accessible home for the City of Portland's three locomotives.
The site of our current home, the Brooklyn roundhouse, will be converted into an intermodal terminal serving its owner, the Union Pacific Railroad, within the next few years.
Visit ORHF's website at www.orhf.org to follow and lend your support to this vitally important effort!
Besides the PRPA, ORHF's members include
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While the City of Portland owns three large steam engines, it possesses no track to run them on or facilities to house them. Luckily, the PRPA has been generously supported by all of the major line-haul railroads serving Portland at one time or another. We are very grateful to these indispensible partners:
- Amtrak - Amtrak doesn't own any mainline tracks in the Pacific Northwest so it cannot host any trains, but it has provided a diesel helper locomotive, conductor, and pilot on one of our excursions. We have recently begun working with Amtrak again and we look forward to continuing our good relationship with the nation's primary rail passenger carrier.
- BNSF Railway - BNSF is the successor company to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway. Consequently, there is a special connection between the 700 and the BNSF, and the Lady usually delivers Santa Claus to BNSF's holiday celebration train out of Vancouver, WA, each December. BNSF also hosts many of our other excursions.
- Oregon Pacific Railroad Company - One of our strongest supporters, the Oregon Pacific hosts the annual Holiday Special Trains and has hosted numerous other excursions. Our new home will connect directly with the Oregon Pacific.
- Portland & Western Railroad - The P&W is one of the larger railroads in Genesee & Wyoming's empire of short line properties. The railroad hosted some of the 700's earlier excursions back in the 1990s.
- Union Pacific Railroad - The Union Pacific has been one of our most generous supporters over the years. The UP and its predecessor, the Southern Pacific Railroad, have made the Brooklyn Roundhouse available as a home for the 700 and its two ORHF siblings cost-free since 1987. Without the use of these facilities, it may not have been possible to perform the quality of restoration work that has allowed the 700 to become the fully operational and historically accurate steam locomotive she is today. In addition, the UP allows us to operate over their railroad to get to each and every excursion we run.
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Looking to ride a train near Portland, but the 700 isn't running just now? Most of the following railroads are non-profit corporations like the PRPA, and many maintain and preserve steam locomotives. The work of restoring and maintaining a steam engine of any kind is difficult and very specialized. As result, the non-profit organizations taking on the challenge form a tight community.
- Willamette Shore Trolley - Portland, OR - "The Willamette Shore Trolley has been providing scenic trolley rides on a 6-mile section of historic rail line between Lake Oswego and Portland, Oregon since 1987 and is operated by volunteer members of the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society (a not-for-profit Oregon Corporation. 501c3). Ride our authentic antique trolley car along the shore of the Willamette River. During your journey you'll ride through parks, by stately mansions, over several bridges, including the 686 foot Riverwood Trestle, and through the 1400' Elk Rock Tunnel."
- Chelatchie Prairie Railroad - Yacolt, WA - "Join us on a ride through the historic logging country of beautiful north Clark County, Washington. From Yacolt to Lucia stopping at Moulton Falls park. All of our excursions include a trip through a 330 foot long tunnel, a trestle crossing the Lewis River and a half hour layover at Moulton Falls." The Battle Ground, Yacolt & Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is the all-volunteer, non-profit organization working to restore steam and diesel locomotives, rolling stock, and track on the CPRR.
- Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum - Chehalis, WA - The CCR&M is a Washington non-profit corporation that has restored a 1916 standard gauge logging locomotive and several other vintage items and now offers train rides over the Port of Chehalis's 9-mile line "through scenic hills, farmland, and over several wooden trestles."
- Mount Hood Railroad - Hood River, OR - This short line offers popular excursions during which patrons can "enjoy the splendors of the scenic Columbia Gorge while climbing through the Hood River Valley." The scenery is spectacular in good weather.
- Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad - Tillamook, OR - "Step back in time and experience a bit of yesteryear. Enjoy the beautiful Oregon Coast line by riding the rail behind a 1910 Heisler Steam Locomotive. This scenic trip chugs along Tillamook Bay and gives passengers views of the ocean. Great for all ages, this trip will give you a glimpse into history." Like the PRPA, the OCSR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and supporting them helps preserve an important piece of Oregon history.
- Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad - Elbe, WA - "Weekly excursion and tour trains depart beneath the snow white cap of Mount Rainier from the Museum and Restoration Shop in Mineral, WA. Pulled by vintage locomotives, passengers on the MRSR are charmed as they pass through forest and glen, next to clear mountain streams and over tall wooden trestles." A 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation is mostly staffed by volunteers who maintain and restore the organization's track, grounds, steam and diesel locomotives, and rolling stock.
- Snoqualmie Valley Railroad - Snoqualamie, WA - Operated by the Northwest Railway Museum, "this five mile common carrier railroad allows museum visitors to experience a train excursion aboard antique railroad coaches through the Upper Snoqualmie Valley."
- Sumpter Valley Railroad - Sumpter, OR - Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration, Inc. is an Oregon non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation
offering steam-powered excursions over a narrow-guage mining railroad. They also offer patrons the chance to rent a locomotive to be an engineer for a day.
In addition to the organizations listed on this page, an extensive list of heritage railroads in the United States and a similar list of Canadian heritage railroads are maintained on Wikipedia.
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