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NW
TRACTION HISTORY:
Salem, Oregon
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Oregon's Capitol City
probably had the most extensive streetcar system in Oregon, outside of
Portland. The city had a streetcar system from 1888-1927. It was also
served by the Oregon Electric Interurban that ran from Portland to
Eugene.
Salem's Traction History is presented
in 4 parts.
The material
presented here is derived from articles from the OERHS Newsletter The Transfer
in February & March 1995 by Mark Kavanagh (webmaster). Additional
Info has been added for this presentation (1/99). Additional info,
including maps and photos will be added over time and will be
highlighted. If a reader has any corrections or additions, please send
them to the webmaster
For more history of
Salem and Marion County, please see the Marion County
Historical Society Website.
Salem
Traction History
By Mark Kavanagh
SALEM
STREETCAR HISTORY
Oregon’s capitol city had its first streetcar
line in operation in January of 1889. It was a horsecar line that started in
downtown along Commercial Street. It proceeded east on State St., past the State
Capitol building. At this time the Capitol Building was dome-less, the dome was
added in 1892. This capitol building later burned and the present capitol
building was built in the 1930’s. The line then turned south on 12th
street to the Oregon & California Railroad Depot. The site of the current
Amtrak station on the UP Valley mainline. The name of the franchise was the
Salem Street Railway Company. Fares were set at 5 cents. Later, extensions were
made east onto Center Street and north on Commercial towards the fairgrounds.
It has been said that President Herbert Hoover
was a conductor and/or driver of the horsecar line in his youth. The President
was living with his Uncle Dr. Henry Minthorn while going to school. Minthorn had
an interest in the Streetcar Company. Hoover actually worked in the office of
his Uncle’s land business most of the time, and was only a conductor on as
needed basis. The President was earning money so he could go onto Stanford
University and of course later to be President.
In 1890 the Horsecar line received competition
from the Capitol City Railway Company. This railway was built as an electric
streetcar line from the start. They built lines to the State Penitentiary to the
east and to the Rural (now Pioneer) Cemetery to the south.
During the 1890’s, Salem was considered to
have an overabundance of streetcar lines in its downtown core. Businesses
complained about State St. in particular. The street had tracks at grade, below
grade and above grade at different parts of its length.
Salem later had streetcar lines to the State
Hospital and to Yew Park, in addition to the current lines to the prison, Rural
Cemetery, the train station and the fairgrounds. Each route was named for its
outer terminus. A young lady, new to Salem wrote to her mother back east about
how easy it was to get around Salem. After all it has streetcar lines to the
cemetery, the prison and the Asylum. I am sure that her mother was relieved that
her daughter lived in such a "modern" and calm city!
Salem like other cities of the time had funeral
streetcars. The Capitol City lines used one of their open cars as a hearse. They
laid the casket on one of the cross-seats and the pallbearers rode on the same
car.
During the 1900’s the car lines consolidated
and went from owner to owner. The Salem Light and Power consolidated all the
lines in 1901. By 1906 this was sold to the Portland Railway Light & Power
Company. This started the trend of absentee land-ownership of the streetcar
lines. The Salem City Council started to complain about the condition of the
streetcars. So the company brought used streetcars from Portland routes to give
Salem at least some newer looking cars.
In 1912 the Portland Eugene & Eastern
Railway bought the Salem streetcar lines. This company had a vision of starting
its own interurban service from Portland to Eugene and continuing to California.
The company also acquired the street railways of Albany and Eugene and West
Linn. The envisioned network never materialized.
The Southern Pacific Railroad took control of
the PE&E properties by 1915. The general manager of the Salem Streetcar
system told a Salem newspaper in 1921 that the streetcar lines have not made
enough to cover operating expenses since as least 1912. This started the
downhill slide of the Capitol City network.
In 1924 the line on 17th
Street was cut back and buses went in its place. The last streetcar ran in
Salem in 1927. Buses took over the entire operation.
The Cherry City, as Salem is often called, went
from complaining of having to many streetcars to having none in 37 years. There
is nothing that remains except for the streetcar destinations and the rails that
have long since been paved over.
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SALEM INTERURBAN HISTORY
Salem was also served by electric
Interurbans, not by the PE&E as previously mentioned, but by
the Oregon Electric Railway. The Oregon Electric came to Salem in
1908. Service was provided north to Portland. This became the
fastest mode of transportation between the legislative capitol
and the economic capitol of Oregon. Service south to Eugene &
Albany did not commence until 1912. Service was provided by
57-foot long interurban type cars that were built by Jewett and
Niles.
The OE passenger service trackage
went along High St. in downtown. The Freight service went along
Front St. both lines were connected on either side of downtown.
Electric freight operation ceased in the 1940’s Freight
along Front St. still continues albeit with BNSF trains. The High
St. passenger line was cut back to Broadway & "E"
St. many year ago, and was finally taken clear back to the
connection with the freight line by Madison & Broadway St in
the 1980’s.
The OE, in its beginnings, had a
lot of threats of competition from many upstart companies, but
many never came to pass. The largest threat came from the
Southern Pacific who disliked the OE encroaching on their Valley
mainline. The per-mile rates between the two railroads were the
same, but the OE had a more direct route between Salem &
Portland thus they were cheaper, and they ran more frequently.
The SP retaliated by deciding to
build their Interurban system in the Willamette Valley. This is
why the bought the previously mentioned Portland Eugene &
Eastern. The PE&E had plans to connect its streetcar systems
of West Linn, Salem, Albany & Eugene with an interurban
system, but it had not happened. The SP went ahead an Electrified
its Westside Line between Portland & Corvallis via Newburg
& Forest Grove & McMinnville, missing Salem by about 10
miles to the west. This route was more affectionately known as
the Red Electrics after the color of the equipment.
As this line never touched Salem,
Salem passengers were forced to transfer at Gerlinger (near Rickreall) to the Salem, Falls City & Western Railway. They
would ride a gas electric McKeen car into Salem. SP did have
plans on another electrified route that would parallel it current
valley mainline that to this day still runs through Salem. This
never occurred and the SP gave up the Interurban business when
the Red Electrics stopped operating in 1929.
SP still had to contend with
electric freight operation along the old PE&E right-of-way,
which paralleled the OE R-o-W. City ordinances and tight track
curvatures would not allow the use of steam locomotives on these
rails, but there were many customers to switch to along the line.
SP retained Box motors # 101, 102 & 103 for this service.
These turned out to be the last Electrics to run in the entire
state. The SP retired the last one in 1941 when they placed the
EMD SW-1 #1010, a diesel switcher in the box motors place.
SP’s position along Front St.
is history. The Trade St. connection was severed in the
1980’s. The only trackage that SP owns crosses the old Falls
City RR bridge over the Willamette River to West Salem, but SP
has not served it in years. BN did the switching in West Salem
until BNSF severed the bridge connection in the late 1990’s.
It is still possible to find
traces of the OE and SP in Salem today. If you drive along
Broadway St. NE to Madison where the BN crossing is you will
notice a grade that comes off the line heading south towards the
middle of Broadway St. Also there are still rails in place at the
old Hops warehouse (now a carpet store) at Broadway & E St.
The OE trackage on Front St. is
easy to find since the BNSF still operates on it. Traces of the
old PE&E parallel trackage can be seen in the pavement.
Through downtown the line was been relocated east by a few yard
in the 1980’s.
One historical note on Front St.
There is a small concrete viaduct that takes Front St. & the Railroad over Mill Creek. The Spokane, Portland & Seattle
Railway, OE’s parent company designed it. This bridge is the
oldest unaltered arch structure on the Oregon Highway system!
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SALEM
TRANSIT TODAY
 Salem today has a mid-sized bus
system, with 20 routes, run by the Salem Area Mass Transit
District. Its marketing name is Cherriots in deference to Salem
being the Cherry City and Buses being transport. Cherriots has
been improving over the years. Just up to a couple of years ago,
Salem buses shut down at 6:45 in the evening. Now they go to 9:35
p.m., but still no Sunday service. The Transit District has been
trying for years to move it current downtown
"Temporary" transit mall on High St to a better off
street location. A site has been cleared bounded by Chemeketa,
Court, High & cottage Streets for a new off street transit
mall. It is hoped that it will be built in 1999.
In 1998 Salem Transit bought newer
clean fuel buses (Compressed Natural Gas). They plan to replace
the entire fleet with thee buses as buses retire. Currently Salem
has a fleet of RTS’s, a few Orions and now 6 CNG vehicles.
Salem’s Train Station is
seeing new life. Under a Federal ISTEA grant the small but
classic station is being restore it is once glorious past.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ed Austin, Tom Dill, The
Southern Pacific in Oregon, Pacific Fast Mail, Edmonds
WA 1993
Edwin D. Culp, Early
Oregon Days, Caxton Printers LTD, Caldwell ID 1987
Edwin D. Culp, Stations
West, the Story of the Oregon Railways, Caxton Printers
LTD, Caldwell, ID 1982
John T. Labbe, Fares
Please, Those Portland Trolley Years, Caxton Printers
LTD., Caldwell, ID 1982
Ben Maxwell, "Salem’s
First Streetcar Line". Marion County History,
Vol. 6 (1960) pp. 20-25
Randall V. Mills, "Early
electric Interurbans in Oregon Part 2, the Oregon Electric and
Southern Pacific Systems", Oregon Historical
Quarterly, vol. 44 # 4 (12/1943), pp. 386-410
Dwight A. Smith, James B. Norman,
Pieter T. Dykman, Historic Bridges of Oregon,
Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR 1989
Statesman Journal Newspaper Salem,
OR, various articles.
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Since the OERHS one of the mission
statements of the OERHS is to educate, this page is dedicated to
providing history of Traction operations in the Pacific
Northwest. If you have any articles that you would like to
submit, please send them to the Webmaster.
Page last updated 02/06/05
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