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Ashland- As finals week is wrapping up for students at Southern Oregon University, the world headquarters for Greenway Transportation is filled with Ambition. Among the studying, business talks are commencing between the current headquarters of Greenway Holdings in Ashland, and it's flagship property 300 miles to the north: The Portland, Beaverton, Fanno Creek, & Southwestern Trailroad.
A trailroad, a semi-clever portmanteau (joining of two words) of the words Trail and Railroad, is a network of bike routes that are laid out more as a railroad route map would be than a typical bike commute. This network has few requirements, only that each route be tested and traversed at least once.
Currently, the PBFC&SW, more commonly known as the 'Southwestern Road', prowls its mainline from the Laurelhurst district in Northeast Portland, all the way through Hillsdale and Garden Home to a split in the trail. The southern extent continues to the city of Tualatin, while the other line continues to Progress Ridge, and, may soon continue along Oregon Route 210 to Scholls. The Southwestern Road is currently looking into two possible mergers. One, with the Rock Creek Trailroad, would give the Southwestern Road access to the Rock Creek Power line trails, and ultimately to its subsidiary, the Dawson Creek Central, in Hillsboro. The other, more ambitious merger attempt is with the Forest Grove, Wilson River and Tillamook. This route follows the bike lanes along Oregon Route 6 from the western city of Forest Grove all the way to the Oregon Coast at Tillamook.
We caught Southwestern Road President Steven Kramer on his way to breakfast, before studying for his finals. "This is an ambitious proposal, no doubt about it," He said, "But our riders and bicycles have proven that they are able to accomplish long-haul feats. SUch a merger, while a long shot, is feasible, and will be considered in more depth."
If the merger goes through, the company would be renamed "Portland, Beaverton, Fanno Creek, & Pacific" and the official nickname would change one word to "Northwestern Road."
(Gabriel Symmons is the Kramer Paper's Ashland Correspondent.)
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