Bypassing Portland: Locomotive Cab Ride on Former SP&S Oregon Lines

A rare look at former Spokane, Portland & Seattle’s lines in northwest Oregon from a GP-38 cab window. The train is #663 plying the Vancouver, Washington to Beaverton, Oregon route via Cornelius Pass on August 3, 1991 during the Burlington Northern era. The train leaves Vancouver, immediately crossing the Columbia River swing bridge and a few miles south goes over the Willamette River lift bridge. The route then heads into heavily forested terrain with grades, high bridges and a tunnel. After Bowers Junction, the countryside becomes rolling hills with groves of trees and agricultural land.