Railway Silverton (Woodburn, Union: 2013, apartments, motel)

[NesterToo]

I have tried to do a google search to see if the railroad is active through Silverton but I can't seem to find an answer. Does anyone know if the train runs through Silverton?

[Silverfall]

I would check with Willamette Valley Railway to see what the plans are. It hasn't been running for a while due to some needed track repairs and cost of service, but there was interest in getting those done and restarting service. That was a couple of years ago, but I don't know what discussions have happened since then.

[NesterToo]

Thanks Silverfall - my mistake was that I was looking at the Union Pacific sites/maps. I found an article from 2018 in the Statesman Journal that pretty much said the same thing you did. Railway had some washout from a flood in 2012 and still needing repair. Also, the Willamette Valley Railway company is in need of more interest in the line's service with investment of some money from the companies that would use it. Evidently that is not happening at this time.

There is a new subdivision going in along Railway Street in Silverton. (sort of behind Safeway) Haven't seen it in person but the layout of lots shows many of them relatively close to the tracks. Very flat land. A lot of planned trees and landscaping has to be done by the builder. Even so, not sure about the area.

If by some chance the railway goes back into service it would be very unpleasant to live that close IMO.

Thanks again for your response.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by NesterToo

Thanks Silverfall - my mistake was that I was looking at the Union Pacific sites/maps. I found an article from 2018 in the Statesman Journal that pretty much said the same thing you did. Railway had some washout from a flood in 2012 and still needing repair. Also, the Willamette Valley Railway company is in need of more interest in the line's service with investment of some money from the companies that would use it. Evidently that is not happening at this time.

There is a new subdivision going in along Railway Street in Silverton. (sort of behind Safeway) Haven't seen it in person but the layout of lots shows many of them relatively close to the tracks. Very flat land. A lot of planned trees and landscaping has to be done by the builder. Even so, not sure about the area.

If by some chance the railway goes back into service it would be very unpleasant to live that close IMO.

Thanks again for your response.

The line is not abandoned. So you should expect that trains might run on the tracks at any time. As a matter of fact, from reading it, it sounds like if they wanted to they could dispatch a train to Silverton today. The tracks are all in place to do that. They just can't run any trains south of Silverton, until damaged track is replaced. And the damage doesn't even sound that severe. All they need is a couple hundred-thousand dollars to replace the washed out rails.

Also from reading the articles it's pretty easy to see where the railway's problems come from. It's a big Catch 22. They are waiting for customers to move next to the rail line, so they can restore the service. But no company is going to make that kind of investment without the line first being operational. If they want to restore the line, they are going to have to repair the line and make it operational. Then maybe customers will move in.

[VulcanRabbi]

Originally Posted by NesterToo

I have tried to do a google search to see if the railroad is active through Silverton but I can't seem to find an answer. Does anyone know if the train runs through Silverton?

There was a guy that had a lot of money and was going to run a train to where the old True Value store used to be and that was meant to be a station with a spur up to Woodburn for the outdoor mall and another to the Oregon Gardens Motel (which should've been indoors with our climate most of the year).

The guy had his own personal money to put down to build the track and maintain it but the city wouldn't let him put his train up due to something about it being an ugly train and 'clashing' with the scenery. We were so ticked off about it. It was on the Appeal back in the early 00s sometime.

In the 90s there was going to be a Burger King by Roths but it was cancelled due to a window in the attic being ugly and intrusive against the scenery. Again ran by the same committee it was cancelled and a Taco Time briefly took over from what I've heard.

[VulcanRabbi]

Originally Posted by NesterToo

Thanks Silverfall - my mistake was that I was looking at the Union Pacific sites/maps. I found an article from 2018 in the Statesman Journal that pretty much said the same thing you did. Railway had some washout from a flood in 2012 and still needing repair. Also, the Willamette Valley Railway company is in need of more interest in the line's service with investment of some money from the companies that would use it. Evidently that is not happening at this time.

There is a new subdivision going in along Railway Street in Silverton. (sort of behind Safeway) Haven't seen it in person but the layout of lots shows many of them relatively close to the tracks. Very flat land. A lot of planned trees and landscaping has to be done by the builder. Even so, not sure about the area.

If by some chance the railway goes back into service it would be very unpleasant to live that close IMO.

Thanks again for your response.

Oh my God! That's the Silverton mentality. They paraded against growth so long that now when they have no choice they do it without planning. Silverton road is already over capacity from lack of planning and now it's going to be even worse with the ugly apartments and I guess your future subdivision. Glad we moved out in 2013! We only go for chiropractor and we still have friends that live there but God traffic is a nightmare unless you go in the morning hours up to 11:00ish.

Silverton is a Paradise fire trap with only a few roads out which will quickly be clogged in the event of an evacuation.