Portland Railroad Atlas – 1963 and 2010 Reader Feedback (click here)
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– by Jeff Shultz
aps can be fascinating. While “the map is not the territory” is always good advice, a good map provides a visual representation of many different things: the location of roads, population centers, waterways, and recreation areas. In this case, the “Portland Railroad Atlas, 1963 and 2010”, by M.C. Byrnes, provides 20 two-map snapshots of the railroads of Portland, Oregon at two moments in time. Researched using aerial photos from both years as well as railroad track maps and ground photos, the included maps are well detailed, with the tracks color-coded by owning railroad. Spurs, sidings, and yard tracks are included. Depending on the area covered, the maps are in either 1:7,000 or 1:10,000, and include page number references to connecting maps where applicable. The left side of each two-page spread shows the trackage in 1963, the year the railroads were at or near their maximum track miles in Portland. The maps on the right side of each spread
are from 2010. They portray a much different picture of the railroads, in some cases surprisingly so. Referring to figure 2, you can see that in 1963 tracks ran up Water, 2nd and 3rd Streets, as well as to the warehouses to the east and the yard to the north. By 2010 all that was left was a two track mainline, without spurs or crossovers, between Albina Yard or the west side of the Willamette River via the Steel Bridge and the former SP Brooklyn Yard and mainline to Eugene. Interestingly, on pages 36 and 37, the maps show the creation of a new fullfledged marine terminal in 2010 where there were no tracks at all in 1963 (figure 3). In fact, with all the changes through the years, there are only 15.2 fewer track miles in the mapped areas in 2010 as there were in 1963! Printed on heavy, glossy, 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper stock, the “Portland Railroad Atlas, 1963 and 2010” is available through several Portland, Oregon area hobby shops or directly from the author at mcbyrnes.com or railatlas@gmail.com for $24.95. According to the author six copies of the Atlas have been purchased by Union Pacific’s Superintendent in Portland, which Figure 1 – Front Cover
Page 98 • Issue 11-12• Dec 2011
First Look – Portland Railroad Atlas, page 1
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Contents
Index