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November 17, 1908: Regular Rail Service Commences Between Portland and Vancouver

November 17, 2011 by Dave 1 Comment

Photo of BNSF Bridge 9.6 (Morning Oregonian 26 June 1908)Regular rail service across the Columbia between Portland and Vancouver began on November 17, 1908 (Morning Oregonian, 11 November 1908). The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Bridge 9.6, then known as the Spokane, Seattle and Portland Railroad bridge, was the first across the lower Columbia (it opened almost a decade before the Interstate Bridge), and at the time of completion was the longest steel bridge in the world (Morning Oregonian, 26 June 1908).

Two railroad tracks cross the 2,806-foot-long steel-truss bridge, which is still in use. The bridge features a pivoting swing span. The 9.6 in its name refers to its distance from Union Station in Portland.

Filed Under: Oregon, Portland, This Day in History, Transit and Transport

Comments

  1. Adron Hall says

    November 17, 2011 at 7:33 am

    …and also one of the biggest bottle neck in the entire north western United States. Sure wish we could get it modernized. It’s beautiful (and cheap, hasn’t cost the taxpayers a penny) but it definitely needs modernized and upgraded. Then they could run serious commuter service too (Imagine Vancouver to PDX in 14 minutes, or Battleground to PDX in 20 minutes, the northern car commute would be even further invalidated.)

    Great recent posts, I’m really diggin’ em’. 🙂

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