Transit Maps: Portland Traction Company

Portland, Oregon: New Motor Coaches Replace Last Street Cars, February 26, 1950

April 6, 2013

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Historical Maps

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1950, ad, bus, bus map, line map, Oregon, Portland, Portland Traction Company, PTC, streetcar, The Oregonian, USA

Here’s an amazing full page ad that ran in The Oregonian on Thursday, February 23, 1950 to announce the end of an era in Portland. The last few remaining streetcar lines – to Council Crest, Willamette Heights and 23rd Avenue – were going to be replaced by “the very latest design in city transit equipment”, modern motor coaches. It’s interesting to compare the bulky, inefficient buses depicted here with their modern equivalents, especially in light […]

Historical Map: Trolley Map of Portland, Oregon, 1943

April 11, 2012

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Filed Under:
Historical Maps

Tags:

1943, 4 stars, bus, Oregon, Portland, Portland Traction Company, streetcar, tram, trolleybus, USA

It’s been a while since Transit Maps featured an historical map, so here’s one from my city of Portland, Oregon. This charming map was produced by the Portland Traction Company in 1943: check out their nifty monogram in the photo set. While it’s labelled as a “trolley map” of Portland, it actually marks a point in time where streetcars and trolley buses were being replaced with cheaper to operate buses, and transit as a whole […]