Valley and Siletz Railroad

The Valley and Siletz Railroad (VS) is a 40.6-mile (65.3 km) defunct railroad located in Polk and Benton counties in the U.S. state of Oregon.

[1][2][3] In order to supply the Willamette Valley with wood products from forests in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, the railroad followed the Luckiamute River to connect Independence, a city along the Willamette River, to Valsetz, a logging community in the Coast Range whose name is a portmanteau of the railroad's name.

[5] In September 1978, when it became no longer profitable for the logging industry, most of the railroad was abandoned.

[2] In 1985, brothers Dave and Mike Root bought the intact remnant of the Valley and Siletz line and combined it with the former Longview Portland & Northern Grand Ronde Division line to form a company called the Willamette Valley Railroad.

It operated until May 1992, serving the Mountain Fir Lumber Company.