Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company

OR&N was initially operated as an independent carrier, but Union Pacific (UP) purchased a majority stake in the line in 1898.

The company then pursued expansion of its Columbia River route, surveying from where the Oregon Steam Navigation tracks ended at Celilo and continuing east to Wallula.

[5] In 1880, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company accepted delivery of the steamship Columbia from John Roach & Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Columbia was innovative for her time as she featured a dynamo that powered electric light bulbs, instead of oil-based lanterns.

Columbia mainly served on the San Francisco, California, to Portland, Oregon, run in her career.

[7] On May 31, 1899, the George W. Elder left Seattle, Washington, carrying 126 passengers and crew on a 9,000-mile (14,000 km) scientific expedition to Russia, visiting Alaska and British Columbia along the way.

Southern Pacific's Shasta Limited on the OWR & N.
Advertisement in 1887
The ghost town of Burke, Idaho was situated in such a narrow canyon that the O.R.&.N. and Northern Pacific operated on main street. (1914) The Tiger Hotel was built over the tracks due to space constraints. [ 4 ]
The innovative and ill-fated Columbia .
An undated photograph of the George W. Elder in Sitka, Alaska .
The house flag of the O.R. & N's shipping division.
1899 advertisement for the steamboat Hassalo .
OWR&N car #84 being restored to its 1922 appearance in 2012 at the South Bay Historical Railroad Society in California.