The Oregon Portage Railroad was the first railroad in the U.S. state of Oregon.[2] It was located on the south bank of the Cascades canal of the Columbia River.[3]
The railroad originally ran 4.5 miles (7.2 km)[4][5] from Tanner Creek (near where Bonneville Dam was later built) to the Cascade Locks, which were under construction in the later years of the railroad's operation.[6][7][8] It was later extended to a length of 15 miles (24 km).[9]
Although the Oregon Portage was the first railroad in Oregon, it was not the first along the Columbia River. Francis A. Chenoweth operated a rail line on the river's north bank in present-day Washington in 1851.[10][11]