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The Portland Railroad and Terminal Division of the Portland Traction Company, more commonly referred to simply as the Portland Traction Company, began as the East Side Railway in 1891, and eventually expanded into an interurban system connecting Oregon City, Gladstone, Eugene, Gresham, the Mt. Hood Railway, and Sellwood. It would, eventually, connect with Oaks Park, a connection built both to spur trolley business, and to bring customers directly to the park.
By 1924, the Eastside Railways was reorganized under the Portland Electric Power Company (PEPCo); during the Great Depression, the Portland Traction Company operated the trolley and city bus lines. Just after World War II, a California-based company named the Portland Transit Company purchased control of the Portland Traction Company and it continued to operate, even as investors sold off company assets. No efforts were made to expand service, and when the Hawthorne Bridge was rebuilt, the rails were removed, cutting off all electric car service on the west side of Portland.
The trolley car system and electric railcar service was official closed in 1958.
[Source: http://www.oregonpacificrr.com/historyPTC.html]
Collection is comprised of a single photograph album containing 75 black and white photographs of street cars, trolleys, and service locomotives operated by the Portland Traction Company in the late 1940s. Locations featured include S.W. Morrison Street, W. Burnside Street, the East Portland rail yards, and the Hawthorne Bridge.
The name of the photographer, or compiler of the photographs, is unknown.