 OPE train, hauled by McCloud Railway 19, entering Dorena, Oregon in 1971. This line closed in 1987, and is now the Row River Trail. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cottage Grove, Oregon, Roseburg, Oregon |
| Reporting mark | OPE |
| Locale | Oregon |
| Dates of operation | 1904-1994; and–2001-Present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway (reporting mark OPE) is an Oregon-based short line railroad that began near Eugene as the Oregon and Southeastern Railroad (O&SE) in 1904. O&SE's line ran 18 miles (29 km) along the Row River between the towns of Cottage Grove and Disston. The Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railway Company incorporated in 1912, purchased the physical assets of the O&SE two years later, and shortened their total trackage to operate 16.6 miles (26.7 km) from an interchange yard with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Cottage Grove, east to a 528' x 156' turnaround loop at Culp Creek. The last of this track was closed and scrapped in 1994,[1] and ownership of its abandoned right of way property was later reverted to the state of Oregon to become one of the first-ever Government/Private Sector cooperative partnership Rails to Trails programs in the US, forming the Row River National Recreation Trail.[2][3] A successor corporation now operates a communications company and a narrow-gauge line at Wildlife Safari.