Trolley Project Resource Collection

This is a collection of material gathered during research. A portion is used on the web pages, while others are too good not to share in some way.

Popular Resources: Old Photos | Map Collection | Morning Oregonian Clips | INTERNET Resources

Complete Collection Index: F Line Maps | N-S Line Maps and more | Documents | Aerial Photos | LIDAR imagery | Old Photos | Modern Photos | Labbe | Thompson | Map Collection | Morning Oregonian Clips - David Stearns | Morning Oregonian Clips | West Shore Magazine | MISC | INTERNET Resources | Books and Articles

Map 1. Long glide uphill from Slavin to Brier Place
[png] MAP1-11-2023.png

Map 2. Discontinued.

Map 3. Details of the 1893 Lewis & Dryden maps of Sections 22, 27, and 28, digitally joined to show the continuous route of the F Line from before Fulton Park to River View Cemetery.
[png] (in MapCollection) Lewis-Dryden-Sec22,27,28.png

Greenwood Hills - Fulton Park Electric Line
[JPG] GWHills-FPEL.jpg

Simple map showing N-S Line running from approx Hamilton to lower River View Cemetery
[jpg] [size] N-S_Corbett-Nebraska-Virginia.jpg

Simple map showing the Southern End of the N-S Line
[jpg] [size] N-S_South_End.jpg

Shows N-S Line Car 31 at Seymour, from RTPS P71
[jpg] [94 KB] N-S-Car31-Seymour-RTPSp71.jpeg

Shows N-S Line Car on Corbett P95
One of the first City & Suburban Standard cars on the North & South Portland line, which replaced the old Metropolitan line. Oregon Historical Society.
[jpg] [369 KB] N-S_on_Corbett.jpg

N-S Line ticket, scanned from Richard Thompson Street Car Lines book.
[jpg] N-S-Line-Ticket.jpg

N-S Line Pullout at RVC

These are interesting items pertaining to the terminus of the N-S line, but not included on the N-S Line page itself.

Shows a modern CRV parked in the pullout that was the Southern End of the N-S line.
[jpg] [size] CRVatPULLOUT.jpg

Looking down into Stephens Creek from the end-of-the-line pullout.
This is one of the confluences of tributaries of Stephens creek. One coming from the Right is from Bertha Blvd - passed under Barbur and I-5 then below Fulton Park and behind River View ABBEY. The one coming down hill is minor - begins at the GAR cemetery and runs downhill along Taylor's Ferry Road, the combined flow continues for just a short ways to pass under Macadam, and into the Willamette at Butterfly Park.
[jpg] [size] SCreekJan2021.jpg

Shows the Rock Wall below the terminus of the N-S Line
[jpg] [~500 KB] RockWall.jpg

Another view of the Rock Wall below the terminus of the N-S Line
[jpg] [~600 KB] RockWall2.jpg

1890 Right of Way Deed from Congregation Beth Israel to Metropolitan Railway Company
[PDF] [7.4 MB] 1890-Right-of-Way-Deed-From-Congregation-Beth-Israel-to-Metropolitan-Railway-Company.pdf

Foreclosure Notice
for then F Line owner Portland Consolidated Railways
[PDF] [~1 MB] 1894-ForeclosureNotice.pdf

Barbur and Terwilliger. WPA 1937 Air Photo 1277x961
Circa 1937 aerial photo of intersection of Barbur and Terwilliger Boulevards, showing Oregon Electric tracks going under Terwilliger Bridge, part of Fulton Park and adjacent Third and Miles intersection (center bottom), and traces of Red Electric going off on Bertha Boulevard. Photo taken soon after Barbur was created on the Southern Pacific/Red Electric right of way.
[jpeg] [size] Barbur-and-Terwilliger-WPA-1937-1277x961.jpeg

Barbur and Terwilliger. WPA 1937 Aerial Photo 5718x3401
Same as above 1937 photo, 4x resolution.
[jpg] Barbur-Burlingame-Viaduct-WPA-1937-5718x3401.JPG

Aerial photo from Blimp of Barbur and Terwilliger in 1947
Intersection of Barbur Boulevard and Terwilliger Boulevard in photo shot in 1947 from blimp. No traces of either Red Electric or Oregon Electric, former Ford Street Viaduct (aka Vista Bridge) still in place as Terwilliger Bridge.
[jpg] BarburTerwilliger1947.jpg

Magnificent aerial photo of Johns Landing.
This possibly circa 1939 photo from over John’s Landing looking southwest shows much of the off-street route of the F Line. It was replaced by the Oregon Electric, but by the time this photo was taken, most of the OE tracks had been removed and Barbur Boulevard was in place above. The curved trestle just past the point where the F line left Corbett can be seen at the lower center, and while the OE made the same curve to the west as Barbur, we believe the F Line departed from that right-of-way and headed up to Fulton Park (beyond triangle of Third and Miles) via the Brier Trench, the trace of which can be seen.
[jpg] JohnsLanding.jpg

Barbur+Terwilliger - famous Malfunction Junction
#16 Photo Not necessary to be in collection.
[jpg] Malfunction-Junction.jpg

Iowa Street Trestle 2000px wide
This 1932 aerial shows the construction of Barbur Boulevard in progress, as seen from over the John’s Landing area. Below the Iowa Street (aka Newbury) Viaduct, the Oregon Electric trestle and right of way can be seen, approximating the route of the F Line. Also of interest is the interruption of Slavin Road, which would soon dead-end below Barbur and be connected to Barbur from the west with a fly-over entrance from the renamed Capitol Highway.
[jpg] IowaStreetTrestle2000.jpg

Iowa Street Trestle 4000px wide
Same as above, 4x resolution.
[jpg] IowaStreetTrestle4000.jpg

Ross Island Aerial Photo, 1950 [963 KB]
Can see trace of rail line below Barbur and Slavin roads but above Corbett Ave.
[jpg] Ross-Island-aerial-1950.jpg

Below Slavin — Another trenching segment scar is visible here
I have seen this feature on foot while exploring Slavin Road. One can step into it. It is just above I-5 at this point. A grove of young-ish identical trees are growing in the trench, as if planted there. See Lidar image section.
[png] [size] BelowSlavin.png

Slavin Road and Barbur Blvd
Aerial Photo of Slavin and Barbur Blvd, looking southwest April 30, 1952.
Beautiful 1952 aerial of Slavin Road when it still intersected with Barbur Boulevard. Slavin’s old curves are still visible after straightening. Also, the Oregon Electric right-of-way can be seen below Slavin, though the tracks have been removed. This would have been the approximate location of the F Line, and the future path of I-5.. The LINK goes to the Picture Of The Week, in Multnomah Historical Association blog.
[LINK] photo in blog entry - NOTE: multnomahhistorical.com was kaput, April 2024.

Brier Trench Lidar image
From DOGAMI Lidar Viewer
[png] [size] Brier-Trench-Lidar.png

Along F Line below Slavin, more apparent trench.
From DOGAMI Lidar Viewer
[png] [size] F-Slavin-long.png

Fulton Powerhouse, 1890
The only photo we've found of the Fulton Park Powerhouse, taken in 1890, occasion unknown. There aren’t enough clues in the image to help us locate the exact site of the powerhouse, though we suspect the trolley car is oriented northeast-southwest, parallel with the Southern Pacific RR (now Barbur Blvd) and consistent with how we believe the F Line entered the Fulton Park area. The photogapher may have been standing on or near the Southern Pacific tracks, which were known to be at a higher level than the F Line, with the shaded side of the powerhouse facing north. Note the cordwood for the boilers and at least one cottage in the distance, some of the earliest houses in the Fulton Park development.
[jpg] [371 K] FultonPowerhouse1890.jpg

River View Cemetery 1903, Vintage Portland website
A charming 1903 photo of visitors to River View Cemetery above the Willamette River with Ross Island in the distance. Note the Southern Pacific RR tracks below, not yet converted to the Red Electric.
[LINK] photo in blog entry

Page 17 from The Red Electrics book
Caption: These photos, taken from almost the same angle, show Pacific Railway and Navigation train No.39 and switcher 1181 at 4th and Madison streets in Portland in 1912. At this time Southern Pacific was under pressure to remove steam trains from downtown to relieve congestion, dirt and noise. The railroad answered by diverting freight traffic and converting passenger trains to electric operation. The large building in the rear is the impressive Multnomah County Court House located on 4th between Main and Salmon streets. (J. Foster Adams, and Guy Dunscomb and Rocky Mountain Railroad Foundation collections)
[jpg] [3 MB!] SteamTrain-downtown-Red Electrics-Dill-LaGrande.jpg

Single photo from page 17 of The Red Electrics book
Shows Pacific Railway and Navigation train No.39 at 4th and Madison streets in Portland in 1912 passing Multnomah County Court House located on 4th between Main and Salmon streets. (J. Foster Adams, and Guy Dunscomb and Rocky Mountain Railroad Foundation collections) Imagine what it must have been like when a steam locomotive passed by the County Courthouse!
[jpg] [239 K] SteamTrainNo39.jpg

Car 13 at the North end of the F-Line
A single-truck trolley car for the F Line at its unceremonious end point at NW 2nd and Glisan (now an onramp for the Steel Bridge). The original Steel Bridge is barely visible in the background, and the other handwritten notes refer to the Union Pacific RR temporary depot (left) and the Oregon & California coal bunkers (right). This must have been taken before Union Station was built in 1896.
[jpg] [334 K] N-end-of-Metropolitan-Rwy-Labbe.jpg

Oregon Electric at Fulton Park
The Oregon Electric interurban used the F Line’s right of way, though instead of crossing over Stephens Creek from Fulton Park, it kept going west on what is now Multnomah Boulevard. We don’t know exactly where this Fulton Park Station might have been. (Or, if the photo may have been captioned incorrectly.)
[jpg] [302 K] Oregon-Electric-at-Fulton-Park.jpg

Cemetery Station
Southern Pacific provided Red Electric passenger service along the right of way between Macadam Avenue and the river, with a stop near River View Cemetery. We think the Cemetery Station was somewhere near the landing for the Sellwood Ferry, which later became the Staff Jennings Marina.
[jpg] [522 K] Red-Electric-(SP)-Cemetery-station.jpg

Third & Miles
The Southern Pacific’s Third and Miles stop was just north of Fulton Park, along what is now Barbur Boulevard. This was the closest the SPRR tracks came to the Metropolitan’s F Line and the powerhouse. TriMet buses now have a Third and Miles stop.
[jpg] [357 K] Red-Electric-3rd-and-Miles-shelter.jpg

Bertha Trestle
Cars now travel on Barbur Boulevard where the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Bertha Trestle carried the Red Electric interurbans. We’re not sure if this is the Iowa or Vermont ravine, but in either case, the F Line would have crossed on its own trestle below this one and closer to the river, where I-5 runs now. (PDX History blog)
[jpg] [243 K] SPRR-Bertha-trestle-in-Barbur-right-of-way.jpg

Carp Flats / Trestle
This photo from Stephen Leflar’s A History of South Portland has a nice view of the Oregon Electric trestle which replaced the F Line trestle over the Iowa Street ravine. The viaduct for I-5 is in that location now, and the two houses at the left still exist.
[jpg] [364 K] Trestle-from-Iowa-St-1928-Leflar.jpg

Corbett Ramp taken 12/2020. 950x512
Folklore has it this was built for a street car. This does not seem to be the case!
[jpg] [size] CorbettRamp950x512.jpg

Corbett Ramp grade geometry - run vs rise
See the Special Features section.
[jpg] [size] CorbettRampGrade.jpg

Section 122 in River View Cemetery
View of what we believe is the F Line’s terminus in upper River View Cemetery, showing a flat area and view of MT Hood. The 1894 Portland Paving map shows a rail line winding its way to this location, as best as we can determine. The walking tour will visit this spot.
[jpg] [315 KB] CemeteriesStationSiteDewey.jpg

Measuring the Corbett Ramp Grade
[jpg] RampLevel.jpg

Old Piers below Barbur Blvd Viaduct
Two rows of piers that once supported a trestle of the Southern Pacific Red Electric, east of the current Iowa Street Barbur Boulevard viaduct. They are visible next to the current Barbur viaduct from the Marquam Trail (SW Trail #3) that goes from John’s Landing to George Himes Park.
[jpg] PiersUnderBB.jpg

Old Piers below Barbur Blvd Viaduct
Close-up of one pier from the old trestle of the Southern Pacific Red Electric line, in the same alignment of today’s Barbur Boulevard.
[jpeg] OldPier.jpeg

Vermont Trestle - old piers
We also discovered old Southern Pacific Red Electric trestle piers next to the Vermont viaduct for Barbur Boulevard.
[jpg] [1.7 MB] VermontTrestlePiers.jpg

Vermont Trestle - old piers cropped
Cropped version of Vermont trestle piers. 1/3 size&space.
[jpg] [634 K] VermontTrestlePiersCropped.jpg

Google Street View at SW Brier Place, looking down into Trench!
A Google Maps street view looking north along the Brier Trench, which is in alignment with SW Brier Place and parallel to Barbur Boulevard. It clearly looks engineered, and possibly wide enough for a single-track trolley such as the F Line. Later city sewer-line work done was done using the trench.
[png] [7 MB] SW-Brier-Place-7MB.png

Google Street View at SW Brier Place as smaller JPG image
Same as above Street View, down sized 4x.
[jpg] [1.4 MB] SW-Brier-Place.jpg

Labbe Papers at OHS

Inventory of Labbe papers and items at OHS. Check it out.
[PDF] [45 KB PDF] JohnTLabbePapers_Inventory.pdf

Cemeteries Station in Upper River View Cemetery
#37
[jpg] [200K] CemeteriesStation.jpg

Fulton Power House drawing from Oregonian, Jan 1, 1891
#38
[jpeg] [size] FultonPowerHouse-Scan.jpeg

Fulton Power House drawing from Oregonian, Jan 1, 1891
#39
[jpg] [size] FultonPowerHouse.jpg

Fulton PowerHouse Full Size drawing
#40
[jpg] [1.1 MB] FultonPowerHouseFullSize.jpg

Metropolitan Rwy North end, Labbe, P68
#41
[jpeg] [size] Metropolita-Rwy-North-end-LabbeP68.jpeg

Metropolitan Railway Car, Oregonian, Jan 1, 1891
#42
[jpg] MetropolitanOregonian.jpg

Metropolitan Trestle, Labbe Page 97
#43
[jpg] MetropolitanTrestle-Labbe-97.jpg

MRC Fulton Park car 27
#44
[jpg] MRC-FultonPark-27.jpg

Metropolitan Railway Schematic from Labbe pg 72
Drawing by Alexander B Ceres.
[jpg] MRR-map.jpg

Rose Festival floats made from the earliest single truck open cars.
At one time floats for the Rose Festival Parade were mounted on streetcar trucks and decorated with electric lights. There were sixteen of these trucks available, created by removing the bodies from the earliest single truck open cars. For a time they were stored at the Lewis & Clark Fairgrounds and later, when these pictures were taken. at the old Ice Arena on Northrup Street between Twentieth and Twenty-first. Page 126.
[jpg] [3 MB] Rose-Festival-Floats.jpg

Source Excerpts from Labbe Book

Nothing here now. Sorry! I may just put these on a separate web page, in plain text.

MRC Fulton Park Car 12
This is probably one of the Brille Deck Top cars. Note that it has 6 large windows (38 inches wide), and 10 upper clerestory windows.
[jpg] [size] MRC-FultonPark-12.jpg

Map Collection (1890s - 1943)

1892 City Auditor's Map
#48
[PDF] [size] 1892-City-Auditor.pdf

1894 Portland Paving Map
#49 January 1, 1894
[jpg] [size] 1894-paving-map-of-portland-january-1-1894.jpg

1894 Portland Paving Map (Large File!!)
#50 January 1, 1894
[jpg] [32 MB!] 1894-portland_paving_map_32MB.jpg

1901 Harvard Map of some kind (cropped from larger image)
#51
[png] [442K] 1901-Harvard-cropped.png

1901 Harvard Map of some kind, full image
#52
[jpg] [1.7 MB] 1901-Harvard.jpg

1901 Sanborn Map - RR right-of-way near Virginia. (Town of Fulton!)
#53
[png] [573 KB] 1901-Sanborn-Sheet1-RR-right-of-way-near-Virginia.png

1909 Sanborn Map Sheet-179 showing a Wooden trestle at Slavin
#53
[png] [606 KB] 1909-Sanborn-Sheet-179-Wooden-trestle-at-Slavin-BROWN.png

1912 Map of Portland and Vicinity
#54
[PDF] [725 KB] 1912-Map-of-Portland-and-Vicinity.pdf

1914 OR Oregon City, Topographic map (11 MB!)
#55
[PDF] [11.1 MB] 1914-OR_Oregon-City.pdf

1943 Portland Traction Company Trolley Map (7.5 MB!)
#56
[jpg] [7.5 MB] 1943-trolley-map-portland-traction-co.jpg

1894 paving map detail
#57
[png] [size] 1894-paving-map-detail.png

1894 Portland paving map cropped
#58
[png] [size] 1894-Portland-paving-map-cropped.jpg

1894 Portland Paving Map showing F Line
#59
[png] 1894-Portland-Paving-Map-F-Line.jpg

Fanciful Bird's eye view of Fulton Park, 1890, by Elliot Publishing Co (35.2 MB!!)
#60
[32 MB !! pdf] ElliotPubCo.pdf

Fulton Park Cropped from Elliott Publishing Co map
#61
[png] [1.2 MB] FultonParkCroppedFromElliott.png

Fulton Park from Elliott Publishing Co map wider crop [10.2 MB!]
#62
[png] [10.2 MB!] FultonParkFromElliott-wider.png

Rumsey Map Collection, showing Slavin Road
#63
[png] [387 KB] RumseySlavin.png

Reduced and cropped LOMBARD Map of properties For Sale in Fulton Park
#64
[jpg] [180 KB] LOMBARD-FOR-SALE.jpg

LOMBARD Map of properties For Sale in Fulton Park [4.5 MB]
#65 Rcvd from OHS Staff as several photocopy scans that JM pieced together.
[png] [4.5 MB] LOMBARD-2+3.png

1912 Historic Transportation Network
E Kimbark MacColl History of Portland book.
[jpg] [231K] 1912-Historic-Transportation-Network-MacColl.jpg

Greenwood Hills - Large
1897 county survey
[png] [2.4MB] 1897-PL0200-050-052.png

Greenwood Hills - Small
1897 county survey
[png] [900KB] 1897-PL0200-050-052-small.png

Sanborn Maps (Multnomah County Library)
[LINK]

Sanborn Maps (Library of Congress)
[LINK]

David L Stearns, 1950s[?], somehow went through The Morning Oregonian newspapers and excerpted articles having to do with the Metropolitan Railway Co. There were 23 narrow-margined Typewritten pages of densely packed text. The DLS web page has the text, recovered via optical character recognition for those entries. (Note Some Oregonian Clips below are contained in the DLS transcribed articles.)
[DLS]

The Morning Oregonian regularly covered the development of Portland’s electric trolley system, providing a good source of in-the-moment information. These are some of the articles that were useful or just interesting to us, and we plan to transcribe these PDFs so they’re easier to read.

Fulton Park! (advertisement), July 4th, 1888.
An over-the-top ad for the Greatest Building Enterprise Ever Inaugurated in the World.
[pdf] [1.8 MB] Advertisement-Morning_Oregonian-July-4-1888-p2.pdf

To the Investor, Aug. 8, 1888
An appeal to potential investors, extolling the virtues of the Fulton Park development, including transportation options.
[pdf] [477 K] Fulton-Park-for-investors-Portland-and-Willamette-Valley-Railway.pdf

Fulton Park Drawing for Houses - Morning Oregonian Nov 16 1888
Report on a drawing held by Fulton Park developers for the purpose of awarding lots and houses.
[pdf] [409 K] Fulton-Park-Drawing-Morning-Oregonian-Nov-16-1888.pdf

Metropolitan Railway Company—Work To Be Pushed, May 13, 1889
Problems with getting right-of-way concessions for Fulton Line.
[pdf] [216 K] 1889-May-13-have-easements.pdf

Grading of line done, Aug. 20, 1889
“Metropolitan Electric Motor line” grading completed except last trestle. Fulton Park powerhouse coming.
[pdf] [82 K] 1889-August-grading-of-line-done.pdf

The New Electric Road, Oct. 13, 1889
Work on the F Line nearly complete; cars should be running to Fulton Park by Nov. 15. (Metropolitan Railway boon to property development)
[pdf] [332 K] Metropolitan-Railway-to-Fulton-a-boon-to-property-development.pdf

Lightning in Harness, Part 1 & 2, Dec. 31, 1889
A colorful and detailed description of the first trial run of the Metropolitan’s F Line. This trip contains some very useful and interesting observations from an outing to Fulton Park, and touring the Powerhouse.
[pdf 1] [pdf 2] [179 K] Lightning-in-Harness-1.pdf [?] Lightning-in-Harness-2.pdf

The Line to Fulton Park, Parts 1 & 2, Dec. 31, 1889
Description of the inception and progress of the Metropolitan’s F Line, including plans to go to Oregon City.
[pdf 1] [pdf 2] [276 K] The-Line-to-Fulton-Park-1.pdf [100 K] The-Line-to-Fulton-Park-2.pdf

Electric Street Railways, Parts 1 & 2, Dec. 31, 1889
Along with Part 2 (below), this is a detailed explanation of how electricity powered Portland’s streetcars
[pdf 1] [pdf 2] [305 K] Electric-Street-Railways-1.pdf [322 K] Electric-Street-Railways-2.pdf

Our System of Street Railways, March 24, 1890
City and suburban lines up and running after storms, well patronized. Partly about cable car.
[pdf] [151 K] 1890-March-route-cleared-good-traffic.pdf

Indefinitely Postponed, April 2, 1890
Metropolitan Railway’s request for water for powerhouse postponed
[pdf] [94 K] 1890-April-city-turns-down-water-request.pdf

Take the Electric Cars, June 15, 1890
An invitation to ride the Metropolitan Railway out to Fulton Park for 3 cents to have a look at property. This one is just more evidence of how important the Metropolitan was to Fulton Park developers, including Steel himself.
[pdf] [60 K] Towns-Daily-Budget-Jacob-Fliescbner-Declines-to-The-Sunday-Oregonian-June-15-1890.pdf

Away with the Horse, Jan. 1, 1891
Full-page review of the status of Portland’s various electric streetcar lines. This is where the drawings of the Fulton Park Powerhouse and the Metropolitan Fulton Park trolley car originally appeared.
[pdf] [4728 K] Away-with-the-Horse-Oregonian-Jan-1-1891.pdf

Surveyors at Work, March 20, 1891
Land in the Collins-Kilpatrick tract being surveyed for continuation of F Line from Fulton to cemeteries.
[pdf] [48 K] Surveyors-at-work-Oregonian-Mar-20-1891.pdf

It Jumped the Track, Oct. 17, 1891
A serious accident along Corbett trestle on the Fulton Line.
[pdf] [199 K] It-Jumped-The-Track-A-Serious-Accident-on-the-Oregonian-Oct-17-1891.pdf

Too Early for Open Cars, March 19, 1892
An appeal to the Metropolitan Railway Company on behalf of a hypothetical “lady” to run closed cars during Portland’s cold rainy season.
[pdf] [71 K] Too-early-for-open-cars-Oregonian-March-19-1892.pdf

Rapid Transit Lines, Jan. 1, 1895
Another annual full-page review of the status of “Portland’s Fine System of Electric and Cable Cars.”
[pdf] [2293 K] Rapid-Transit-Lines-Oregonian-Jan-1-1895.pdf

Let Go Their Road, Sept. 30, 1897
2nd Street Line leased to City & Suburban Railway
[pdf] [txt] [250 K] 2nd-StreetRoW-sold-to-City-and-Suburban.pdf [3 K] LET-GO-THEIR-ROAD.txt

Ready to Start Up, Nov. 22, 1897
City & Suburban Railway moving Fulton powerhouse machinery to new power station on east side.
[pdf] [67 K] Ready-to-Start-Up-new-power-station.pdf

Twenty-five Years Ago feature, June 8, 1914
Looking back at building the trestle over the gulch at the end of Corbett Street (in 1889). A mention of the Corbett trestle!
[pdf] [27 K] Twenty-Five-Years-Ago-Oregonian-June-8-1914.pdf

The West Shore magazine was a lavishly illustrated “literary journal” that featured arts, gardening, business, and architecture of the Pacific Northwest. It was published for sixteen years, beginning as a monthly in August 1875 and ending as a weekly in March 1891.

A Suburban Home, Part 1
A promotional piece about the Fulton Park development touting the aesthetic and healthful aspects of living on the hillside above the settlement of Fulton, as well as the easy access by rail.
[pdf 1] [pdf 2] [196 K] [175 K] A-Suburban-Home-West-Shore-Aug-1888-1.pdf and 2

Metropolitan and Albina Railways
Work is beginning on Portland’s first two electric trolley lines, including the building of two powerhouses and a detailed description of how the new Steel Bridge to Albina will operate.
[txt] Metro-and-Albina-Railways-The-West-Shore-JUN-1-1889.txt

Old Wall vestige of Oregon Electric line
This retaining wall was left in place when I-5 was constructed in 1961, but replaced when the freeway viaducts were rebuilt and widened in 2010! See newsletter article below.
[png] [2.2 MB] OldWall-OE.png

TrainMaster Newsletter, October 2010, pages 10-11 only
This newsletter article described the old retaining wall built in 1913, and implies that an effort to rescue one or both of the '1913 Date Blocks' succeeded. Whereabout unknown to us at this writing.
[PDF] [836 KB] TrainMaster-2010-10-pgs10-11.pdf

Fulton Park! (advertisement)
This June 1888 ad in an unspecified publication is a good description of the property and terms of the development, along with some hype about the crystal-clear water and charming views.
[jpg] [406 K] Fulton-Park-advertisement.jpg

Relative Usage of Transportation Modes
An interesting chart from E. Kimbark MacColl’s The Shaping of a City showing the various kinds of transportation in Portland between 1840 and 1920, and comparing their usage. (Originally created by Portland Chief Transportation Planner Ernest Munch for a 1972 EIS for the Mt. Hood Freeway. See Bike Portland post from 2015: [LINK])
[jpg] [967 K] Relative-Usage-of-Transportation.jpg

• One website oregontrolley.com has these three subjects:
  Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society;
  Oregon Electric Railway Museum (Brooks, Oregon, I-5 Exit 263);
  Willamette Shore Trolley (Lake Oswego to South Portland).
• Greenwood Hills Cemetery Newsletter, April 2013, with the trolley story. (Local copy of two pages only). [PDF]
• Multnomah Historical Association on the Metropolitan Railway once asserted that the Corbett Ramp was an abandoned right-of-way of the MRC. We succeeded in dispelling that folklore. (NOTE: multnomahhistorical.com was kaput, April 2024.) [LINK]
• Multnomah Historical Association on Fulton Park: [LINK] NOTE: multnomahhistorical.com was kaput, April 2024.
• PDX History on Southwest Hills [LINK]
• PDX History on Red Electrics [LINK]
• PDX History blog on Oregon Electrics [LINK]
• Richard Thompson's Vintage Trolley website (somewhat defunct?) [LINK]
• Trimet: History of Public Transit in Portland [LINK]
• Trimet: Interactive Transit Timeline [LINK]
• Wikipedia on Southern Pacific Red Electric Lines [LINK]
• Greenwood Hills Cemetery, colorful history [LINK]
• River View Cemetery, Main website [LINK]
• River View Cemetery, Founders page [LINK]
• Collins View, Five Cemeteries in Southwest Portland, in or bordering CV. [LINK]
• City of Portland Archives [LINK]
• Sellwood Bridge history [LINK]
• SW Trails article on the Red Electric Trail [LINK]
• Southwest Corridor, Metro News [LINK]
• Portland Railroad History, Pacific Railroad Preservation Association [LINK]
• The Portland - Fulton Park - Cemeteries Trolley Line, article in SW News, May 2021 [LINK]
• I-5 Viaduct Construction? [Missing LINK]

Blogs

• Vintage Portland (old photos and discussions) [LINK]
• Preserve Oregon Blog, River View and White House Road: [LINK]
• SW Trails PDX Walker’s Guide to Red Electrics: [LINK]
• SW Trails Barbur Blvd Bridges: [LINK]

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