Oregon Experience: Streetcar City

Horsecars

An animal powered streetcar. Horses (or sometimes mules) pulled horsecars over iron or steel rails along city streets. Ben Holladay introduced Portland's first horsecar line in 1872. One of his original horsecars still exists on display at the Milwaukie Historical Society Museum. Other cities with horsecars include Klamath Falls, Albany, Corvallis, Baker City and Salem. (Photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society)

Cable Cars

Uses a continuously moving cable, running at a constant speed, to haul a car. Portland’s only cable line began service in 1890, connecting the low-lying downtown with the growing housing developments on Portland Heights. (Photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society)

Steam Dummies 

Steam-operated streetcars.
These steam locomotives were designed to look like streetcars in order to bypass city ordinances prohibiting trains. Steam dummy lines were used in areas like Portland’s Hawthorne district, Mt. Scott, Mt. Tabor, St. Johns, and in Albany, Jacksonville, and Vancouver, Washington. (Photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society)

Trolleys

An electric streetcar that gets its power from an overhead wire by means of a trolley. Portland’s first trolley car began operating in 1889. Eugene, Salem, Astoria, Klamath Falls, and cities all over the country operated trolley systems. (Photo courtesy Portland City Archives)

Interurbans

An interurban is an electric railway that shares most or all of these four characteristics: Powered by electricity; Main purpose was passenger service but also might carry some freight; Equipment was heavier and faster than urban streetcars; Operated on street tracks in cities but on roadside tracks or private rights-of-way in rural areas.

Oregon had the first interurban railway in the country when the East Side Railway Company opened a line between Portland and Oregon City in 1893. (Photo courtesy Oregon Historical Society)