{{Short description|Railroad in Oregon and Washington}} {{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} [[File:UP5824; CSX8631; UP4080; UP4608 in Oregon.jpg|thumb|A train traverses the Crooked River Railroad Bridge, 2005]] thumb|Map of the Oregon Trunk Line, 1931 {{Oregon Trunk Subdivision|collapse=y}} The '''Oregon Trunk Line''' is a railway line in Oregon and Washington operated by the BNSF Railway. It is a remnant of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, running from Wishram, Washington in the north to a connection with the Union Pacific at Chemult at its south end.<ref>{{Cite map |url=https://www.bnsf.com/bnsf-resources/pdf/ship-with-bnsf/maps-and-shipping-locations/bnsf-network-map.pdf |title=BNSF Network Map |date=January 2024 |publisher=BNSF}}</ref> Connections to the Gateway Subdivision are facilitated by trackage rights over the Union Pacific Cascade Subdivision to Klamath Falls.
==History== The Oregon Trunk Line railroad surveyed the route in 1906,<ref>{{cite news |title=Federated Authorities and Railway Men Clash on Deschutes |newspaper=The Oregon Daily Journal |date=November 7, 1906 |page=16}}</ref> with the golden spike driven at Bend on October 5, 1911.<ref name=Fagan1961>{{cite news |last1=Fagan |first1=Dick |title=mill ends... |newspaper=The Oregon Daily Journal |date=October 3, 1961 |location=Portland, Oregon |page=2-2}}</ref> It was built with competition from the Deschutes Railroad Company, which laid their tracks on the eastern bank of the Deschutes River.<ref name=Fagan1961 /> The competing companies' workers became embroiled in a Railroad War during construction, with attacks involving dynamite, guns, and general brawls.<ref name=Fagan1961 />{{sfn|Sawyer|2016|p=191}}{{sfn|Krantz|1912|p=28}}{{sfn|Krantz|1912|p=34}} A truce was called in 1909 to allow the two to build a joint track through the narrow Deschutes River Valley.{{sfn|Krantz|1912|p=34}}{{sfn|Sawyer|2016|p=191}} Northern Pacific Railway and Great Northern Railway agreed to extend the line south of Bend to Klamath Falls in 1927.<ref>{{cite news |title=G. N. To Build Line Alone: N. P. Board Gives Budd Free Rein |newspaper=The Evening Herald |date=June 1, 1927 |location=Klamath Falls, Oregon |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=OFFERS RAIL FACILITIES TO OREGON TRUNK LINE; Southern Pacific States Terms in Negotiations for Joint Use of Mid-Oregon Sector. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/27/archives/offers-rail-facilities-to-oregon-trunk-line-southern-pacific-states.html |access-date=7 August 2024 |agency=New York Times |date=March 27, 1927 |page=E-18}}</ref> The order was finalized the following year with Great Northern additionally acquiring trackage rights on the Southern Pacific line between Chemult and Klamath Falls.<ref>{{cite news |title=G. N. Given Order For Bend Plans |newspaper=The Oregon Daily Journal |date=January 27, 1928 |location=Portland, Oregon |page=1}}</ref>
Passenger services along the line ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak.
==References== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite magazine |last1=Krantz |first1=Shad O. |title=Railroad War In The Mountains |magazine=Technical World Magazine |date=September 1912 |volume=XVIII |number=1 |pages=27–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqpMAAAAYAAJ |via=Google Books}} * {{cite book |last1=Sawyer |first1=Adam |title=Best Outdoor Adventures Near Portland, Oregon: A Guide to the City's Greatest Hiking, Paddling, and Cycling |date=2016 |publisher=Falcon Guides |isbn=9781493017119}} {{refend}}
Category:BNSF Railway lines Category:Rail lines in Oregon Category:Rail infrastructure in Washington (state) Category:Rail infrastructure in Oregon Category:Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway