Calendar

Past Activity

Eugene Historic Streetcar

  • Start date: 03/17/2018

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 03/17/2018

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

We'll walk the 5.6-mile route of Eugene's historic Fairmount streetcar "trolley" line. For twenty years, between 1907-1927, trolleys/streetcars operated in Eugene along eighteen miles of electrified tracks. There were nine cars and four routes for this city of 11,500 people. Only the finest cars were used and each was superbly-crafted, they even included heaters and rattan seats! The cars were up to 45-feet long and could carry up to 100 passengers. The cost was 5 to 10 cents per trip.

Our walk will begin at the Morning Glory Cafe at 9:00 am just across from the Southern Pacific depot (known today as the Amtrak Station) on Willamette Street. The hike will continue to downtown Eugene, the University of Oregon, the Masonic Cemetery, and Hendricks Park. Near the far end of the route, at 26th & 27th Avenues, we can do some quick detective work and try to find where the cars ran. On the return trip, we'll see some of the last remaining tracks embedded in the street and pass the location of the former carbarn where the cars were serviced. The walk will end at the bus station (11th & Willamette), about 11:00 am.

  • Event Leader: Mark Hougardy

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-206-9532

  • Event Leader Email: hougardy@gmail.com

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Urban

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles:

  • Season: 2018

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required:

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 6

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 100

  • Non-Member Fees: 2

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

It is hard to imagine today, but between 1907 and 1927 streetcars (commonly referred to as trolleys) ran along 18-miles of electrified tracks in Eugene. Their comforting clickety-clack sounds as the wheels passed over connections in the tracks where heard on four routes in this city of 11,500 people. Only the finest cars were used and each was superbly-crafted with heaters and rattan seats. At 45-feet in length, they could carry up to 100 passengers. The cost per trip was 5 cents for a child and 10 cents for an adult. Our walk to re-discover this curious icon of the early 1900's began near the Amtrak train station, where the Fairmount line would have started a 5.5-mile run. We walked the Fairmount's route in its direction of travel from downtown, across the University of Oregon's picturesque campus, through residential neighborhoods, past some of the last remaining visible tracks, and back. The tracks are gone from the route today but look carefully, as many miles of track is hidden just under the pavement.