Oregon Rail Heritage Center — Attraction in Portland

You find yourself face to face with beautiful iron beasts of history as you walk around this place. The art deco Southern Pacific Daylight 4449 locomotive - the last of its kind - sits at rest, but you know that in short order it could be powered up and would be capable of pulling passengers to destinations far and wide, and would look stunning doing it. But for now, you can get right up close and personal with it, as just its wheels tower over you, not to mention the rest of the engine that sits upon them. And for the briefest of moments, you are transported back in time, to when steam was king, when the industrial revolution was happening all around, and modern history was still in the future.

As you pass around the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, you'll also come face to face with several locomotives, cars, and equipment, and each one alone is in its own right worth the visit to the Center.

For children, the experience will be totally different from that of adults, but your family will love having these experiences together.

Entrance is free, but it's well deserving of your donation.

If you visit on the weekend during the summer, make it a day of trains! Ride their train that goes to Oaks Park and back, and then be sure to coordinate with the Willamette Shore Trolley. Just take the Portland Streetcar or MAX across Tilikum Crossing, then the Streetcar south to Lowell. Get off and walk a block down Moody to Bancroft, and you'll find the station there.

Take your kids to experience the wonder of the history of rail. You won't be...

This place is AMAZING!!! If you know anything about railroading then likely you know about the Southern Pacific Daylight trains and the mighty locomotives that towed them down the line.

You can get up close and personal with the exquisitely maintained SP 4449. You can stand next to one of the drivers that's powered by 5000hp of steam. And if you're lucky enough to show up when it's being prepped for a run, you can experience the 400 and some odd thousand pounds of metal and water and firebrick that slowly comes to life. You can feel the vibration of the fire pressure escaping the fire box, the heat emanating from this incredible machine and the beauty of the color scheme, the streamlining, the shine of the paint and the awe that will strike you when you understand the life that this machine truly lives when it's steamed. Truly amazing.

The best part of the organization though is not the mighty 4449, or the other locomotive or the rolling stock in the livery... It's the people. The passion that goes into the machines here is amazing. And the accessibility to them for information, stories, history and technical inquiries is everything. If not for the people, this organization would be nothing.

Do yourself a favor and give them a visit. It's worth every second of your time. And drop them 1$, 5$ or simply a note thanking them for their efforts. They deserve every bit of encouragement...

A small but great rail museum where they are actively restoring engines right in front of you. Though several of the engines in the building you could walk up to, access for exploration other than looking in the window was blocked off. By request you could tour a passenger car and crew caboose in the rail yard. Several more engines outside were off limits. There is an optional train ride, where you can choose between two open sight-seeing cars, a caboose with seating in the upper viewing area, and a restored "high-class" sleeper coach. We chose to ride in the sleeper coach and explored its many rooms, vintage electrical features, and wood charm. Was a great experience. My young nieces and nephews loved riding in the upper part of the caboose, and though their parents found the $10 fee unreasonable, the vintage car we rode in was worth every penny. Would love to explore this place again. Information placards are hard to follow, especially if you know nothing of train and rail...