When the Portland Streetcar opened in 2001, the occasion marked a significant turning point in the recent history of public transit in the United States. The light rail system was the first of its kind to use modern vehicles, thus distinguishing the service from other novelty vintage or heritage lines such as San Francisco's. For while limited-service commuter LRT lines had already begun to make headways into North American cities such as Buffalo, Calgary, and Los Angeles, along with Portland's own MAX Light Rail service that opened in 1986, the Portland Streetcar was the first dedicated full-service urban streetcar line to operate in a major North American city since the 1950s. No stranger to light rail, Portland was previously home to a massive streetcar and interurban rail system from 1872 to 1958, and the modern-day expansion of its MAX and Portland Streetcar networks harkens back to an era when public transit was king. This edition of Once Upon a Tram will take a look at the fascinating history of the Portland Railway Light and Power Company.

Portland streetcar travelling solo "On the Road of a Thousand Wonders," image via the Portland Archives

Begun by local businessman Benjamin Holladay in 1872, Portland's first streetcar network, like many others at the time, was powered by horses, with a modest fleet of single cab horse-cars able to carry passengers up and down First Street in downtown Portland. Little more than a frontier logging town at the time, the service was more than adequate to get passengers from one end of town to the other, with many seeking an alternative to walking Portland's notoriously muddy streets.

Portland horse-cars in operation, c. 1880s, public domain archival image

Before long, alternative power methods were being considered, as the limits of horse-cars were no longer acceptable by the late 1880s in the quickly growing modern city. While steam was used for a short period in the 1880s, especially on the interurban lines, the entire system went electric in 1892, thus bringing an end to the era of the horse-car after 20 years of service.

Final horse-car run, June 20, 1892, image via the Portland Archives

On June 20, 1892, the last horse-cars were run up and down First Street, indicating that Portland's electric streetcar era had arrived. By the early 20th century, the various private street railway and interurban railway companies that made up Portland's electric street rail network had been bought up one by one, and in 1906 the Portland Railway Light and Power Company consolidated the entire network under one roof. Thus empowered to proceed into the 20th century with a single vision, expansion of the urban and interurban networks came quickly, with 28 separate lines spread across almost 300 kilometres of electrified track.

Trolley Map of Portland, 1943, image via the Portland Traction Company

Viewed above, the Trolley Map of Portland, published in 1943 by the Portland Traction Company (a rebranding of the Portland Railway Light and Power Company), highlights the extent of the network as it appeared towards the end of the streetcar era. Replacement trolley buses and motor coaches were beginning to overtake the streetcar as the dominant mode of public transportation. The original streetcar routes can be seen in yellow, along with their recently converted trolley bus equivalents in black, and the encroachment of motor coach routes into the system is indicated in green, signifying the changing face of public transit within Portland during an era of mass change.

Portland Heights cable car in operation, c. 1890s, public domain archival image

Of the most notable engineering accomplishments in Portland's early electric streetcar era history, the Portland Heights cable car and bridge was quite a feat. The popular service allowed suburban expansion into otherwise challenging geographical landscapes and it was not long before the Portland Railway Light and Power Company began to partner with local housing companies in an effort to spur suburban development all around the city centre, to the original streetcar suburbs of Portland.

Long way down, a streetcar wends its way up the mountain to Portland Heights, c. 1915, image via the Portland Archives

By the 1910s, service to Portland Heights as well as numerous other streetcar suburbs had been well established, with suburban commuters able to ride into the city centre with ease. Meanwhile, to the delight of developers across the city, countless housing estates were sold to buyers eager to live the suburban dream, freed from the confines of the cramped inner city by way of the streetcar.

"Prosperity follows the Street Car Line," local newspaper ad from 1908, image via The Sunday Oregonian

Growing to a maximum reach of just more than 300 kilometres, the urban and interurban electric rail network of the Portland Railway Light and Power Company made it possible to live comfortably in Portland and its environs without want or need of a car. Up to and including the lean times of the Great Depression, and with renewed vigor during the material shortages imposed by the Second World War, Portland's love affair with the streetcar lasted more than 80 years. The impressive network was responsible in many ways for the city's early development and current status as a major North American city.

Future interurban passenger waiting for the train, c. 1932, image via the Portland Archives

A victim of its own success, Portland's once extensive streetcar network made it possible for the city to grow at an unprecedented rate, into difficult terrains far ahead of the eventual construction of the motorways that would come to define the postwar era. Quite literally paving the way for its own eventual demise, the runaway success of Portland's interurban network made its eventual abandonment in favour of the automobile and freeway a foregone conclusion.

"Council Crest, the Dreamland of Portland, Oregon," c. 1920, image via the Portland Archives

However, despite the eventual end of streetcar service in 1950, followed by the end of interurban service in 1958, the legacy of light rail in Portland would not be forgotten. Its modern renaissance is part of the city's rebirth and renewed urban focus that has once again made Portland one of North America's most talked-about cities. Below, the modern Portland Streetcar map reveals a network that mimics the historic layout of the original in many ways, though it is significantly smaller in scope, with just under 12 kilometres of streetcar track augmented by nearly 100 kilometres of commuter rail on the MAX Light Rail network.

Portland Streetcar Map, 2015, image via the Portland Bureau of Transportation

Referenced around the world as an urban success story, and more often than not the yard stick against which similar LRT and streetcar proposals in the United States have been measured for the last 15 years, Portland's progressive urban vision and reintroduction of streetcars to its streets has shed a light on the value that light rail can add to the health of a modern city.

Portland Streetcar in operation, image by Flickr user 5chw4r7z via Creative Commons

SkyriseCities will return soon with a new edition of Once Upon a Tram, which will take an in-depth look at the transit legacy of a city near you. In the meantime, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below. Got an idea for this series? Let us know!