Eugene’s historic rail station transformed into a chain restaurant’s home

By Rachael McDonald (KLCC)
Jan. 7, 2024 4:21 p.m.
The historic Oregon Electric Station building in downtown Eugene will be the next location for the Old Spaghetti Factory.

The historic Oregon Electric Station building in downtown Eugene will be the next location for the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Chris Lehman / KLCC

A historic building in downtown Eugene will soon be home to the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant.

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The Oregon Electric Station restaurant shuttered in 2020. The 1914 brick building was originally an Oregon Electric Railway Station.

“The Oregon Electric Building was a great fit for us,” Kim Davidson, with the Old Spaghetti Factory, told KLCC. “If you’re familiar with the Old Spaghetti Factory concept at all, all of our locations have a trolley car in them, and that fit perfectly with the Oregon Electric building since it had a train theme as well.”

The Old Spaghetti Factory is a Portland-based chain with more than 40 restaurants in 13 states and Japan.

Davidson says the Eugene restaurant’s opening date falls on the Old Spaghetti Factory’s 55th anniversary, this Wednesday, Jan. 10.

The Oregon Electric Station was a popular Eugene restaurant since the 1970s . It’s also housed offices and at one point a railroad museum. The Lane County History Museum was eyeing it for a new location.

Obie Companies has plans for the parking lot adjacent to the Oregon Electric Station building called The Station House at the Market.

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