Modeling the Portland Traction Company

Back to 1981.  Text and sketches by Craig Bass, 1981  Sketches are rough drafts only - I never got around to making the final artwork for the article submission

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Original Introduction to my article,"The Portland Traction Company - a Railroad You Can Model" from which the first three pages of this website are taken:

     If you were to try to find a "perfect railroad," that is, from a modeling stand-point, what things would you look for?  Perhaps long, gently curving runs through rolling farmland?  Maybe tight radius street trackage in an urban setting?  How about traction -- interurban passenger cars running singly or in multiple under overhead and steeple-cab freight motors handling the freight trains?  Steam power?  Diesel?  Or would you prefer logging or tourist trains?  How about all of the above?  If you said yes, you've just described the Portland Traction Company!

The article then continued as on the previous pages of this website, minus the page about the Springwater Corridor in 2003.   Following that, the original article continued as below:

MODELING THE PORTLAND TRACTION COMPANY

The Portland Traction Company would be a perfect prototype for the modeler who enjoys industrial switching.  Logical (if not prototypical) on-line traffic could be generated between all but a few of the industries served by the railroad, as most are associated with the wood products and building industries. 

If the era of operation were set in the early 1900's a layout could keep a club busy with freight, logging and passenger trains running at close intervals (the railroad saw up to 127 trains daily during peak years).

The tourist attraction of Cazadero Dam could, if selectively compressed in your favorite scale, be a very unusual and striking scenic highlight of the layout, as well as giving justification to long excursion specials showing off your open-body passenger cars.

A PORTLAND TRACTION COMPANY TRACK PLAN

Unless a modeler has unlimited space in which to build a model railroad, it would not be feasible to model the Portland Traction Company's line to its scale 20 mile length.  It is possible, however, to include all the spurs and siding that are currently in use, as I have done on this 12' x 20' plan which fits into my garage. I model in HO, but N scalers would naturally have space for longer mainline runs and larger yard areas. 

I chose a modern setting for the layout's plan, although the railroad could easily be back-dated to PTC's interurban years by the addition of catenary.

While planning this layout, I have tried to duplicate the prototype as closely as possible in regards to facing and trailing-point sidings.  In a few instances, in order to avoid an imbalanced appearance or hidden trackage, I have taken artistic license and have placed certain sidings on the "wrong" side of the main.  Abandoned or otherwise non-used sidings have not been included, with the exception of the lumber mill in Lents.

I have also provided an industry list coded to numbers on the plan to help you determine possible traffic flow on your railroad. (NOTE FROM 2004: I never finished the industry list, but some of them are shown on the plans as posted on this site.)

The abundance of curves and grade crossings help to make the model railroad seem longer than it actually is.  Code 70 rail helps to convey the appearance of a short-line railroad and this is a layout that is well suited to an 18" minimum radius and #4 turnouts.  The main should be lightly (very lightly in most places) ballasted, with plenty of weeds growing along the right-of-way.  The railroad is not signaled, but automatic grade crossing protection at the major crossings is provided by lights and gates. 

Walk-around control would be a natural on a layout of this type, as there is plenty of switching to be done at many points along the line.   If desired, a continuous run connection could be added between the curve  on the Gresham branch (could represent Ruby Junction, which existed on the prototype, from where the Troutdale line continued north) and the street trackage in East Portland, and the ends of the Boring and Gresham branches could be tied together to make a large reverse loop for out-and-back operation.

Appropriate rolling stock would include an assortment of box cars, flat and bulkhead flatcars, chemical tank cars, reefers, wood chip hoppers and covered hoppers.  For a time, a string of auto rack cars was stored at Lents, so if you take the precept that the railroad may make a little profit from storing surplus cars, almost any kind of car could be seen along the line.

Bridges are wooden pile trestles, with two concrete and steel structures spanning Johnson Creek in the canyon west of Stanley on the prototype.  A steel plate girder bridge carries the tracks above Highway 99E east of Sellwood.  Power substations and their accompanying brick switch houses at Sellwood, Lents, Bellrose and Linneman would reflect upon the electrical history of the railroad.  Tall steel high tension towers line one side of the main from Portland to Boring (and ultimately Cazadero) and high voltage lines on wooden poles line the other side.  In the past, wooden poles spaced 100' apart held the catenary, but they have long since disappeared.

The railroad's engine facilities in East Side Yard include a two-stall wooden enginehouse with a rounded roof, a fueling area (underground tank with an electric pump) and a rip track.  Most of the other structures on the line are of typically common American industrial architecture, ranging from rotting wooden sheds of indeterminable age to turn of the century brick buildings, to modern sheet metal structures and cube-shaped concrete tilt-ups. 

East Portland must convey the appearance of being part of a large metropolitan area, so many small buildings, tightly spaced, should be used.  An urban backdrop should be provided here, gradually becoming suburban and then rural beyond Lents Junction.  Mt. Hood should be visible in the distance beyond Linneman Junction.   Include plenty of evergreens and green scenery to suggest the Pacific Northwest.  A view-blocking forested ridge separates the Boring and Gresham branches. As a little focal point, an old wooden trainman's' telephone booth stands at Linneman Junction, as it does on the prototype.

FINALE

With its two locomotives and at one train a day, today's Portland Traction Company may not be club material.  As it stands, it is perfect for a home road to be operated whenever the mood strikes.  However, if you model the prosperous days of interurban trains before they were called light rail or mass transit, the passenger and freight traffic can easily keep a full crew enjoyably busy  (remember that, in its heyday, the Portland Traction Company saw over 127 daily trains over its rails)!

All in all, the Portland Traction Company is, has been, and will continue to be, a very diversified "Railroad You Can Model."  Well, there you have it. Now you can schedule a Boring run, but the operation of your railroad shouldn't be "boring" !

Click here to see sketches of the prototype's track arrangements in East Portland, the Sellwood area, Gresham and Boring as well as an alternate, simplified trackplan.

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