City of Prineville Railway

From RailroadfanWiki
Revision as of 21:59, 1 February 2020 by Ns3322 (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search
HB6AVK1t.png

City of Prineville Railway Overview

The City of Prineville Railway is an 18-mile class III shortline railroad connecting the U.S. cities of Prineville and Redmond, Oregon.

The railroad had its origins in the late 1800s, when the city of Prineville was bypassed by the Oregon Trunk Railroad, resulting in the city losing business to nearby towns that did have railroad service, such as Bend. After two failed attempts in the early 1910s, the city decided to take matters into its own hands and in 1916 chartered a railroad. The line opened in 1918. After struggling early on, the railroad eventually was able to gain new customers in the sawmills that opened up near Prineville to take advantage of the recently opened timber of the Ochoco Mountains east of the city. In 1939, two significant events took place on the COP. First, the railroad was able to finally turn its first profit and second, the railroad terminated its passenger service, which had been declining since the early 1920s. The railroad joined the diesel age in 1950 when it purchased its first diesel locomotive, and in 1955 it scrapped the last of its steam locomotives.

The railroad stabilized in the 1960s and 1970s with four sawmills as customers, but by the 1990s and 2000s, the railroad lost revenue when the final two mills being served shut down, leaving the COP with only inbound lumber loads for the Woodgrain Millworks facility. In 2004, business picked back up when the railroad built a transload facility out of an abandoned sawmill. This facility had garnered the attention of Louisiana Pacific (LP) who used it to receive wood for laminated beams and ship out completed beams. Both the raw goods received and the finished product would be shipped by truck either to or from an LP facility in Hines. While this did help the COP, it would turn out to be short lived as LP eventually had to close the Hines plant. Today the railroad still serves Prineville and several of its industries and it also remains one of the oldest municipally built railroads in the U.S.

The City of Prineville Railway interchanges with the BNSF and UP at Prineville Jct. (3 miles north of Redmond, Oregon).

City of Prineville Railway Locomotives

Number Model Built History Notes
COP 1 Shay 3 Truck 1923 Ex-Mount Emily Lumber Co #1/Independence Logging Co #1. Operates a few times a year.
COP 985 GP20 1954 Ex-MILW 985/MILW 2406. Retired.
COP 989 GP20 1954 Ex-MILW 989/MILW 2388. In service. Main locomotive.
COP 1551 SW1500 1968 Ex-CWRO 1551/WC 1551/SP 2505. In service. Main locomotive.
COP 1837 GP9 1956 Ex-REPCO 1837/BN 1837/BN 985/GN 685. In service. Secondary locomotive.

City of Prineville Railway Customers

Customer Location Company Description Type of Railcar Notes
McCall Oil & Chemical Prineville Oil and Chemical Products Tank Cars
Prineville Freight Depot Prineville Freight Depot & Transload Boxcars/Centerbeam Flatcars/Covered Hoppers/Tank Cars
Carson Prineville Fuel Transport Services Tank Cars
Fontana Wood Products Prineville Wood Products Centerbeam Flatcars
Rock Products Manufacturing Prineville Woodchip Products Woodchip Hoppers
Prineville Sawmill Prineville Woodchip Products Centerbeam Flatcars
Superior Carriers Prineville Junction Liquid Transload Tank Cars






Back to Oregon Shortlines

Back to Shortlines