As you depart the southern terminus at Lake Oswego parallel to the Portland and Western railway you dive into the woods, winding through posh neighborhoods, into a long tunnel and trestle and under the Sellwood Bridge. As you enter urban Portland you get great views of the Willamette River and cut through blind driveways. The northern terminus is South Waterfront, a new development with high rise buildings, only a block from the Portland Streetcar. Historic Facts - Originally opened as a narrow gauge steam railway in 1897 - Line used to go downtown as the main route for Southern Pacific's Red Electric Interurban service with service as far south as Corvallis - Southern Pacific passenger service ended in 1929 and freight service continued to 1987. - Southern Pacific abandoned the line in the late 80's and a Consortium of government agencies purchased the line in order to preserve the line for future modern streetcar or light rail service. - Today the line runs from State St. in Lake Oswego to Bancroft. St in the South Waterfront district of Portland. - The current rolling stock is two "council crest" type replicas build in the early 90's. They ran downtown on MAX and Streetcar lines until 2013 when two were sold to The Willamette Shore Trolley and two were leased to St. Louis. - As there are no overhead wires, the trolleys are required to use a diesel generator on a cart. In the future, one or two of the trolleys will use battery power instead. Pictures of the line currently
