Corridor History
The right-of-way now used by the Willamette Shore Trolley's was established in the mid-1880s by the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway, which began passenger service with steam trains on July 4, 1887. It provided Oswego (as Lake Oswego was known then) with a direct link to Portland. Prior to this, access to Oswego was limited to primitive roads and river boats.
The line was later purchased by the Southern Pacific Company. Southern Pacific widened the line from narrow gauge to standard gauge and electrified it in 1914. This led to its peak in passenger travel in 1920, when 64 "Red Electric" trains traveled daily between the two cities. By October 5, 1929, passenger service ended, though the line was used for freight until 1983.
Read more about this topic: Willamette Shore Trolley
Famous quotes containing the words corridor and/or history:
“And now in one hour’s time I’ll be out there again. I’ll raise my eyes and look down that corridor four feet wide with ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence.”
—Colin Welland (b. 1934)
“Perhaps universal history is the history of the diverse intonation of some metaphors.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)