Just when you think you've pretty much covered every streetcar line in town, both built and never-built, along comes another one! In 1913, the board of the Mount Scott Park cemetery tried to force the Portland Railway, Light & Power Co. to extend the Mount Scott line from Lents to the cemetery. 🧵

I just realized that there at at least two "streetcars posing in front of the boss's house" photographs showing B. S. Josselyn's imposing home at SE Belmont and 66th. This was originally the Massachusetts Building at the Lewis & Clark Fair, moved here to become a mental hospital in 1906.

Just when you think you've pretty much covered every streetcar line in town, both built and never-built, along comes another one! In 1913, the board of the Mount Scott Park cemetery tried to force the Portland Railway, Light & Power Co. to extend the Mount Scott line from Lents to the cemetery. 🧵

I just realized that there at at least two "streetcars posing in front of the boss's house" photographs showing B. S. Josselyn's imposing home at SE Belmont and 66th. This was originally the Massachusetts Building at the Lewis & Clark Fair, moved here to become a mental hospital in 1906.

At a State Utility Commission hearing on abandonment of passenger service in early 1933, precisely ONE person showed up to protest the line's passing.

Old Vancouver streetcar line right-of-way south of Marine Drive at Faloma. Of course, the track was on a trestle across empty slough back then, but the path is still apparent.

Old Vancouver streetcar line right-of-way south of Marine Drive at Faloma. Of course, the track was on a trestle across empty slough back then, but the path is still apparent.

Newspapers did a pretty good job of documenting when streetcar track was paved over, which happened in a series of programs from 1936 onwards as lines were abandoned. Here's a page on the site that collects articles related to the subject: pdx-streetcar-history.notion.site/Historical-T...

I think I've found the shortest span of time between track being abandoned and then paved over. On April 29, 1940 the Mississippi line's outer terminus was cut back to N Lombard and Interstate. The abandoned track to Kenton on Lombard and Denver was paved over on May 6, 1940, just a week later.

Newspapers did a pretty good job of documenting when streetcar track was paved over, which happened in a series of programs from 1936 onwards as lines were abandoned. Here's a page on the site that collects articles related to the subject: pdx-streetcar-history.notion.site/Historical-T...

People often ask why the majority of Portland's streetcar track was paved over instead of being removed. There are two main reasons: 1. Breaking the track and ties out of the solid concrete they were embedded in was really expensive, and...

Milestone! The 🎆 2,500th 🎇 article has just been added to the site, describing the process of paving over abandoned streetcar tracks in April 1950: pdx-streetcar-history.notion.site/Paving-Due-o...

Milestone! The 🎆 2,500th 🎇 article has just been added to the site, describing the process of paving over abandoned streetcar tracks in April 1950: pdx-streetcar-history.notion.site/Paving-Due-o...

In February 1911, PRL&P ran a newspaper advertisement about preventing streetcar accidents containing four common scenarios – I'll post each of them individually over the course of the day. i. Did Not Wait For Car to Stop Before Getting Off

In February 1911, PRL&P ran a newspaper advertisement about preventing streetcar accidents containing four common scenarios – I'll post each of them individually over the course of the day. i. Did Not Wait For Car to Stop Before Getting Off

A 1909 newspaper advertisement (drawn once again by Fred Routledge) for the Parkside addition shows streetcar lines up into Kings Heights and Arlington Heights a few years before they were actually built (1911 and 1913, respectively), but promises a carline to Parkside "in a few months."

A 1909 newspaper advertisement (drawn once again by Fred Routledge) for the Parkside addition shows streetcar lines up into Kings Heights and Arlington Heights a few years before they were actually built (1911 and 1913, respectively), but promises a carline to Parkside "in a few months."

When PRL&P's Washington Street car barn was damaged by fire in 1909, architect Edgar M. Lazarus saw an opportunity to create a new grand entrance to the City park, "classical in its treatment." These before and after images were published in the Oregonian, but the scheme never went anywhere.

And a quick side note for those of you wondering why it's the "Washington St Car Barn" when that location is CLEARLY on W Burnside St – until the Great Renumbering of 1933, it was Washington St that continued up the hill west of 16th Ave, not Burnside.

When PRL&P's Washington Street car barn was damaged by fire in 1909, architect Edgar M. Lazarus saw an opportunity to create a new grand entrance to the City park, "classical in its treatment." These before and after images were published in the Oregonian, but the scheme never went anywhere.

A view from the intersection of 42nd and Sandy Blvd looking south as the Rose City car line tracks on Sandy get covered by asphalt in late 1938 – this process was documented by the newspapers of the time. The track in the foreground belong to the abandoned Beaumont line.

A view from the intersection of 42nd and Sandy Blvd looking south as the Rose City car line tracks on Sandy get covered by asphalt in late 1938 – this process was documented by the newspapers of the time. The track in the foreground belong to the abandoned Beaumont line.

And here's the corbeled brickwork of the old trolley barn peeking out from the Whole Foods facade! The same pattern can be seen on the Burnside trolley barn.

A rare glimpse of two of the three carbarns that made up the Ankeny complex – look at the second building back on both sides of Burnside Street just to the east of 28th. The one on the left is now a Whole Foods; the one on the right is now the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon's headquarters.

Happy Mother's Day! Photo is noted as c. 1930 by the Portland City Archives, but a date of May 10 for Mother's Day means it must be either 1931 or 1936.

If you've spent any time on the Springwater Corridor, you would have seen the station at Linneman Junction and perhaps thought, "What a cool remnant of bygone times!" Yes and no. There WAS a station at Linneman, but it burned down in 1996 – the building today is a modern stand-in, built in 2003.

If you've spent any time on the Springwater Corridor, you would have seen the station at Linneman Junction and perhaps thought, "What a cool remnant of bygone times!" Yes and no. There WAS a station at Linneman, but it burned down in 1996 – the building today is a modern stand-in, built in 2003.

Welcome to all my new followers! I'm Cameron and I'm a streetcar historian. This account is a companion to my research wiki, where I've transcribed almost 2500 historical newspaper and trade journal articles about the history of streetcars and interurbans in and around Portland from 1872 to 1958.

Welcome to all my new followers! I'm Cameron and I'm a streetcar historian. This account is a companion to my research wiki, where I've transcribed almost 2500 historical newspaper and trade journal articles about the history of streetcars and interurbans in and around Portland from 1872 to 1958.

I've transcribed almost 1500 more articles since this interview with Jonathan back in December 2024 and I'd almost start calling the project "comprehensive" now – I'm still discovering new things all the time, though!

One of my favorite little parts about the redrawing of my research map is that I was finally able to more accurately show the clever bi-directional loop that sent cars to/from the Kings/Arlington Heights lines efficiently, as shown in this 1913 Fred Routledge illustration.

Major upgrades to my research map completed! ✅ Cleaner linework with corner radiuses ✅ More consistent naming of features ✅ Rewritten informational text ✅ More historical track shown ✅ Station names added to Eugene streetcar network And more! Check it out here: www.google.com/maps/d/edit?...

Major upgrades to my research map completed! ✅ Cleaner linework with corner radiuses ✅ More consistent naming of features ✅ Rewritten informational text ✅ More historical track shown ✅ Station names added to Eugene streetcar network And more! Check it out here: www.google.com/maps/d/edit?...

In one of those revelatory "ohhh, that makes sense!" moments: Vancouver Avenue gets its name because it used to run across the slough north of Columbia Boulevard to reach the ferry across to that city, as this c. 1901 map shows. It was the OG "interstate road" before Interstate Avenue!

Side Project: Redrawing the city streetcar lines for my research map in QGIS. I first threw these paths into a Google Map a decade ago and it's all pretty sloppy with overlapping routes not quite lining up. Hopefully I can clean them up and reimport with nice corner radiuses and other improvements.

An Oct. 1911 ad extolling the virtues of the new Parkrose addition and seemingly promising direct Rose City Park streetcar service to the city – which is not quite what happened. Hartman & Thompson opened their own line in Jan. 1912 from 82nd to 122nd along Sandy and ran two old streetcars on it...

An Oct. 1911 ad extolling the virtues of the new Parkrose addition and seemingly promising direct Rose City Park streetcar service to the city – which is not quite what happened. Hartman & Thompson opened their own line in Jan. 1912 from 82nd to 122nd along Sandy and ran two old streetcars on it...

When I say that streetcars built Portland, this is what I mean – here's a "Vernon" streetcar at the end of the line at Alberta and 25th, c. 1903, with no buildings to be seen anywhere. First named for the new addition it served, the line soon changed name to reference the street it traveled along.

The very first fare increase for Portland's streetcars came in 1918. Fares had been 5 cents within city limits since the very beginning in 1872 (though originally there were no transfers between the different companies). Portlanders were PISSED that fares were going to go up one whole cent.

When I say that streetcars built Portland, this is what I mean – here's a "Vernon" streetcar at the end of the line at Alberta and 25th, c. 1903, with no buildings to be seen anywhere. First named for the new addition it served, the line soon changed name to reference the street it traveled along.

The city streetcars went as far as Vancouver in the north, Sellwood to the south, out past 82nd to the east and up into the West Hills in SW and NW. Timetables for the streetcars aren't easy to find they preferred to express service in terms of frequency – "6-minute cars", "8-minute cars" etc.

This 1890s photo of Portland keeps showing up and people keep arguing about where it was taken from, despite some very obvious clues in the photo. So I did what any sane and reasonable person would do and triangulated landmarks to prove things once and for all.

In a sign of the changing transportation needs of Portland, the new pay-as-you-enter cars cars that arrived in 1910 were too high to cross the old Steel Bridge – the forward trolley pole could strike the end of the trusses if not stowed in the absolute lowest position.

This 1890s photo of Portland keeps showing up and people keep arguing about where it was taken from, despite some very obvious clues in the photo. So I did what any sane and reasonable person would do and triangulated landmarks to prove things once and for all.

Your infrequent reminder that if you ever have questions about Portland streetcar and/or interurban history, you can ask them here and I'll do my best to answer!

Newspaper keyword searches for "new car" uniformly give results for new streetcars or railroad carriages until 1907, when the newfangled automobile bursts onto the scene in Portland and ruins everything. Suddenly its all photographs of well-moneyed socialites posing with their shiny new conveyance.

In 1911, Portland ranked #2 in the number of streetcarsand interurbans ordered in US and Canadian cities, with 147 cars purchased. Only Chicago, with 215 cars, ranked higher. At the end of the year, Portland had over 600 cars in its fleet.

In 1911, Portland ranked #2 in the number of streetcarsand interurbans ordered in US and Canadian cities, with 147 cars purchased. Only Chicago, with 215 cars, ranked higher. At the end of the year, Portland had over 600 cars in its fleet.

How long did it take for streetcars to get built and delivered to Portland? On April 29, 1908, the Portland Railway, Light & Power Co. placed an order with the American Car Co. of St. Louis for 25 new cars. The first two arrived on October 26, with the rest arriving by the end of November.

A c.1896 photo of one of the cable cars converted to electric operation at the City Park terminus, which at that point in time was right at the gatehouse for Reservoir No. 4 (which can be glimpsed to the left of). I know Portland City Archives has other photos of the reservoirs, so I went poking...