Portland's Loss is St. Louis' Gain - Portland Vintage Trolleys

Portland Vintage Trolley at Oak and Second on its way to the Lloyd Center, 2005

Portland Vintage Trolley on the streetcar line, southbound at 11th. and Yamhill.

Portland Vintage Trolley on the streetcar line, southbound at 11th. and Yamhill.

Portland Vintage Trolley on the streetcar line, southbound at 11th. and Yamhill.
Passing the original Max turnaround.

Portland Vintage Trolley on the streetcar line, southbound at 11th. and Yamhill.
The car is actually pointed right towards Council Crest as this point.

Leanin'

On the Transit Mall at Pioneer Couthouse

On the north end of the Transit Mall, about to make the turnaround at Union Station.

Southbound on the other side of Pioneer Courthouse.

Portlandia just got a lot less hip with TriMet's vote on Wednesday to send the Vintage Trolleys to St. Louis, which is starting a trolley loop in the city (link.)  In their heyday, 1994 to 1999, the replica Council Crest cars ran daily between downtown and Lloyd Center, and this was a free ride to boot. From 2001 to 2005 the trolleys ran on the Portland Streetcar route, interspersed with the Skoda cars. The final route is shown in the map below, and brought the cars onto the Yellow Line, and on to the Transit Mall. This was a very visible route, but trips have been limited to only eight Sundays in the last several years. I hope they get more use, and more appreciation in St. Louis.

More links:   http://vintagetrolleys.com

                        http://www.heritagetrolley.org/TNERJPortland.htm

                          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Vintage_Trolley