A private investor group is moving ahead with plans to build a large rail-to-truck transfer facility near Woodburn, Oregon, aiming to give Willamette Valley farm exporters a way to load containers onto trains instead of hauling them by truck all the way to Seattle and Tacoma. Willamette Intermodal Group is developing plans for the project, according to seed reporting.
The project, as reported by Capital Press, would sit on a Phase One site of roughly 290 acres near Woodburn, with roughly 400 additional acres under option. Containers loaded there would travel by rail to the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma for shipment to Asian markets, bypassing the Interstate 5 corridor through Portland that exporters currently rely on.
Backers say the economics are straightforward: agricultural exporters currently truck containerized freight 225 to 250 miles to reach Seattle or Tacoma, a haul that a September 2026 announcement from US Capital Global Securities says is worsened by highway congestion, driver shortages and limited port terminal hours. With rail service in place, exporters would have another option for sending loaded containers to the ports.
A Familiar Name Returns to the Rail Fight
Kevin Mannix, a Republican state representative from Salem, is a managing member of Willamette Intermodal Group, doing business as Oregon Port of Willamette. Mannix previously proposed an intermodal site near Brooks, Oregon, but the Oregon Transportation Commission instead awarded a $25 million grant to a competing site in Millersburg back in 2019, according to Capital Press and corroborated by the Oregon Seed Council. The Woodburn project is the group's current proposal, the outlet reports.
The Woodburn project is intended to address problems that have affected earlier intermodal facilities in the region. Land-use regulations in the Exclusive Farm Use zone are part of the project's context. Development director Stew Stone is also part of the group steering the project toward construction.
Millersburg's Cautionary Tale
The skepticism surrounding any new Willamette Valley intermodal project traces back to Millersburg, where a state-subsidized facility was completed in 2022 but has not begun shipping agricultural products despite receiving roughly $35 million in state and county funds. Agricultural product shipments through Millersburg have not developed as envisioned, and Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist has been associated with the site's outcome, the reporting states.
Instead of farm exports, the Millersburg facility has imported building products and now plans to receive bulk renewable diesel. The City of Millersburg approved a conditional use permit in October 2024 allowing Green Energy Midstream to transload rail-delivered renewable diesel onto distribution trucks there, a pivot documented by Mid-Valley News. The facility's planned operations have not developed as envisioned, according to Capital Press.
State funding for Willamette Valley rail facilities dates back further still, to 2017, when the Oregon Legislature passed the Keep Oregon Moving transportation package, known as HB 2017-A, which set aside $25 million in public grant funding for a regional intermodal reload center, according to the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center. That regional push reflects the outsized role of grass seed and straw in the local economy: Oregon's Mid-Willamette Valley produces nearly two-thirds of all U.S. cool-season grass seed, and the baled straw byproduct relies heavily on containerized ocean transport to Asian livestock markets, per the same source.
Straw Exporters Feel the Squeeze
Interstate 5 disruptions are part of the broader pressure on agricultural exports from the valley. The article also discusses changes to Portland's intermodal service.
Willamette Intermodal Group has established rail relationships. The group's operational framework, outlined in a pitch posted to Project Finance Exchange, includes establishing a short-line railroad and acquiring six locomotives and 220 custom rail cars to service initial commitments from exporters shipping over 40,000 40-foot containers annually. The same posting also discusses the planned Woodburn property.
Funding Race Against a Late-2026 Deadline
Willamette Intermodal Group is seeking financing for the project. US Capital Global Securities LLC announced a $41 million convertible note offering in September 2026 to support early-stage development of the terminal.
Phase One of the planned facility encompasses roughly 290 acres — with an additional 400 acres under option — and features two 8,000-foot dual tracks with an initial capacity described in the offering materials as 150,000 containers per year. A second construction phase could increase capacity to 300,000 containers per year, according to Capital Press. Proponents say the added scale would let Willamette Valley farm products ship more efficiently, and that the yard has room to grow.
