End of the Streetcar Line Virtual Cache

Portland's streetcar system was truly something to behold. A wide network of rails took early residents just about anywhere they needed to go. The Broadway Line was one of the signature routes, connecting Northeast Portland with the heart of the city.

The line was first constructed as far north as Northeast 24th and Fremont in 1909. The Alameda Land Company, which began developing the neighborhood above the ridge in 1909, paid $30,000 to extend the streetcar line up the hill to where it terminated at the location marked by our virtual cache.

Here's how to find The End of The Streetcar Line:

1. Print out the picture here on this page, grab your GPSr and see how close you can get.
2. Using the photo and the GPSr, you should be able to get very close to the footsteps of the photographer (lots of open sky). Have a good look at the photo to see what's changed and what hasn't. All of this is on public property.
3. The photo doesn't show it, but just off the print to the right is a standard landmark feature you see in every neighborhood, again on public property. Send me the specific number for this particular item (which is engraved on the round silver tag attached to this landmark) for full credit for this cache.
4. When you are standing here, look to the north and see how the street narrows north of this intersection: a sure sign that you are at the end of the streetcar line.

The Broadway Streetcar
Alameda's Early Lifeline

Today, us Alamedans take for granted our ability to travel out of the neighborhood any time of the day or night. When we need to be on the move, most of us travel by car down our familiar thoroughfares: Fremont, 33rd, 24th, 21st. There was a time, however, within the reach of one good memory, when the notion "neighborhood thoroughfare" meant something completely different than the busy streets we know today.

Two generations of families grew up in Alameda relying on the Broadway streetcar to take them where they needed to go. Ever-present, often noisy, sometimes too cold (or too hot), but always dependable, the Broadway car served Alameda loyally from 1910 to 1948. And though its been gone from our streets and our lives now for 54 years, physical clues remain when you learn how to see them, and neighbors are still pleased to recall their memories about one of Portland's premier streetcar routes.

During its lifespan, the Broadway car witnessed major changes to the life of our city. When our streetcar first traveled Regents Hill - which the motormen had dubbed "Mud Hill" due to the pre-construction mudbowl of the early Alameda Ridge - the automobile was still a novelty.

Construction had just begun on the Broadway Bridge. The Alameda Land Company was hatching its plans to sell the lots that eventually became this neighborhood. Portland's population stood at 207,000.

Sensitive to the transport needs of its prospective customers, the Alameda Land Company financed construction of the rails and overhead electric lines that brought the car up Regents Hill to the end of the line. Developers all over the city knew access was one key to selling lots, particularly in the muddy and wild environs that Alameda represented in 1909.

In 1923, a trip downtown cost an adult 8 cents. Kids could buy a special packet of school tickets allowing 25 rides for $1. In 1932, a monthly pass for unlimited rides cost $1.25. Alamedans used the streetcar as a vital link to shopping, churchgoing, commuting to the office, trips to the doctor. Some even rode the line for entertainment.

During the day, cars ran every 10 minutes, and Alamedans referred to them as "regular cars" or "trains." During the morning and evening rush hours, additional cars called "trippers" were put into the circuit to handle additional riders. Trippers did not climb the hill to the end of the line, traveling only to Fremont to save time. At night, our line was one of the handful in Portland that featured an "owl car," a single train that made the circuit once an hour between midnight and 5 a.m. Owl service was a special distinction.

Portland streetcar historian Bill Hayes ran Portland Radio Clinic, a radio sales and repair business at 30th and Broadway and knew Alameda well during the heyday of the streetcar. On May 15, 1932, a new type of car was introduced to the Broadway line, the Brill "Master Unit," replacing the older, noiser and by then well-used cars. Hayes traveled to the end of the line on the car's first run and remembers how different it was from the earlier streetcars.

"Those new ones were fast, smooth, comfortable and spotless," Hayes remembers. One of the 1932 Brills that traveled our neighborhood has been lovingly restored by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society. You can ride it today (Broadway Car 813 on the Willamette Shore Trolley) between Lake Oswego and Riverplace: a great outing with the kids and an opportunity to learn about Portland history.

The Broadway streetcar was replaced by bus on August 1, 1948. By 1950, all of Portland's once ubiquitous streetcar lines were gone. In the early days of neighborhood life, our streetcar was indispensable. It was one catalyst that made development of Alameda possible. It linked us to downtown and to other neighborhoods near and far. To hear the stories, it linked us to each other in a way too.

Want to look for clues to our lost streetcar line? There are plenty of clues to be found in the alignment of power poles, in the remnants of rail unearthed from time to time during street repair, and in the memories of those who remember the clanky, drafty, dependable Broadway streetcar.

For more info on the history of this neighborhood, visit www.alamedahistory.wordpress.com.