The Interurban Trolley

City of Milwaukie Oregon Official Website

Modes of transportation have long shaped Milwaukie - from pioneer-era steamships to the McLoughlin Super Highway (Oregon 99E) - and chief among these have been the railroad. In the late 1800s local railroad companies connected Milwaukie to the larger region through heavy rail lines and electric commuter rail service. Most iconic of all was the electric Interurban Trolley Car, the Trolley - a fixture of urban commuting in many American cities in the first half of the twentieth-century.

For 65 years the Trolley connected Oregon City and Milwaukie to Portland and the greater metropolitan area, from Troutdale to Estacada and Mount Angel. The parent company changed names and owners several times but the Trolley remained a constant in how people got to work, accessed recreational opportunities. 122 years after the first Trolley rambled through Milwaukie, and following an absence of 57 years, commuter rail returned with the arrival of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail line, TriMet's Orange Line, on September 12, 2015. The Orange Line not only signaled Milwaukie's rising prominence in the region but is truly a throwback to Milwaukie of yesterday.

For more information on the Trolley Line or for a copy of the book Portland Traction's Interurban Trolley Line Between Portland and Oregon City visit the Milwaukie Historical Society and Museum (3737 SE Adams Street, Milwaukie - open weekends) online at milwaukiehistoricalsociety.com or on Facebook HERE.

A HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF COMMUTER RAIL IN MILWAUKIE

YEAR	EVENT
1868	The Great Oregon Railroad Race begins as the east-of-the-Willamette Oregon Central Railroad competed with the west-of-the-Willamette Portland Transportation Company to see who could build a rail line from Portland to Oregon City first.
1869	On December 24 the Great Oregon Railroad Race ends as the east-side Oregon Central Rail line reaches Oregon City 2 days before the Portland Transportation Company line.
1893	At 2 pm on February 16 the first Trolley car departs from Portland headed for Oregon City where it arrives at 2:30 pm The East Side Railway Company, owner and operator of the Trolley Line, was one of the first electric railway systems in the United States. From the start of operations the Interurban Line included a Car Barn in Milwaukie, at McLoughlin Boulevard and Jackson Street, where Trolley cars were repaired and stored. [See photos below of the Milwaukie Car Barn circa 1910s]
1901	On February 1, the Portland City and Oregon Railway Company (PC&O) is incorporated and takes control of the East Side Railway Company and the Interurban Line.
	On October 21, the Milwaukie Improvement Association is organized to stop the PC&O from moving the Car Barn to Sellwood (from Milwaukie). [See photos below of the Milwaukie Car Barn circa 1910s]
1902	On June 28, the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company (OWP&R) is incorporated and begins operating the Interurban Line.
1906	The Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (PRL&P) is incorporated and begins operating the Interurban Line, which includes 28 electric streetcars.
1924	The PRL&P, through a name change, becomes the Portland Electric Power Company (PEPCO).
1930	The Portland Traction Company is incorporated to operate the Interurban Lines in the City of Portland.
1946	The Portland Transit Company is formed and acquires the entire Interurban railway system for $1 million from the Portland Traction Company and PEPCO.
1952	Residents of northern Clackamas County organize a "Transit Savers" club to fight the Portland Transit Company's efforts to abandon the Interurban railway system.
1958	In January the Portland Transit Company abruptly ends all Interurban Line operations, ending 65 years of continuous commuter rail service from Oregon City to Portland.
1962	The Portland Traction Company sells sections of the Interurban Line to the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads for $3.8 million.
1968	The Golf Junction (Waverly) to Oregon City section of the Interurban Line is abandoned by the Portland Traction Company.
1971	Through funding made available through Oregon House Bill 1700, the Bike and Trails Bill, the State Highway Commission takes the first steps to acquire and transform abandoned sections of the Interurban Lines into Oregon's first bike and pedestrian path.
1974	An Oregon Public Utilities Commission report, requested by Portland City leaders, suggests that sections of the Interurban Line could be converted for use as a passenger rail line at half the projected cost of building additional highways. In particular, the report proposed using the Trolley Trail between Oak Grove and Portland as a "demonstration project" for a larger commuter rail network.
1990	The Portland Traction Company runs Trolley cars down the Springwater Line (along Johnson Creek Boulevard) for the last time. The City Council adopts Resolution 36-1990 expressing the City's support for light rail for the first time.
1994	The City Council adopts Resolution 31-1994 supporting TriMet's proposed light rail transit improvements.
1995	The City Council adopts Resolution 10-1995 supporting Amtrak and high speed rail transit services.
1996	The City Council adopts Resolution 38-1996 supporting Ballot Measure 32 authorizing funding for the proposed North-South Light Rail Project.
1998	Milwaukie voters recall 3 members of the City Council who supported light rail, later in the year the City Council adopts Resolution 11-1998 accepting a regional light rail project.
2002	Metro purchases sections of the Trolley Trail between Milwaukie and Gladstone from the Union Pacific Railroad for $250,000 and partners with the North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District to begin transforming the abandoned tracks into a 6-mile bike and pedestrian path.
2007	The City Council adopts Resolution 30-2007 entering into an intergovernmental agreement with Metro to study the impacts of the South Corridor Light Rail project.
2008	In July the City Council adopts Resolution 69-2008 endorsing the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) project locally preferred alternative, and in December adopts Resolution 87-2008 executing agreements with TriMet for PMLR funding, planning, and services.
2010	The City Council adopts Resolution 41-2010 accepting the PMLR project concept design.
2014	Milwaukie voters authorize the City to issue General Obligation Bonds to finance the City's share of the PMLR.
2015	On September 12 the PMLR Orange Line begins service from Oak Grove to Portland, returning commuter rail service to Milwaukie after a 57 year absence.

This information was located by City of Milwaukie staff conducting research at the Milwaukie Historical Society, 3737 SE Adams Street, Milwaukie, and is also based on information found in the book Portland Traction's Interurban Trolley Line Between Portland and Oregon City (Milwaukie Historical Society, 2002). Additional sources include the City of Milwaukie's Digital Archives, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) website, and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) website.