Oregon Electric Railway Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Oregon Electric Railway Museum
Sydney car 1187 (built 1912) at the museum
Former name	Glenwood Electric Railway "Trolley Park"
Established	1959
Location	Brooks, Oregon, United States 45°03′06″N 122°58′47″W / 45.051677°N 122.979589°W / 45.051677; -122.979589

The Oregon Electric Railway Museum is the biggest streetcar and trolley museum in the Pacific Northwest part of the United States. It is run by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society. You can find it in Brooks, Oregon, inside Powerland Heritage Park.

History of the Museum
- Where the Museum Is Now
Cool Trams and Trolleys to See
Images for kids
See also

History of the Museum

The old trolley barn in Glenwood (1986)

The museum first opened its doors in 1959. This was in a town called Glenwood, which is about 40 miles west of Portland. People often called it the Trolley Park.

Trolleys started running there in 1963. Regular rides began in 1966. The museum was built on the site of an old logging railroad. The museum used a former sawmill building as a place to store its trolleys. This old site was quite large, about 26 acres. Trolley cars could travel on a 1.7-mile track there.

The museum stopped operating at the Glenwood location in the autumn of 1995.

Where the Museum Is Now

The trolley barn in Brooks (2016)

The current museum in Brooks opened in 1996. It has about one mile of main track with overhead wires. There is a special building called a "carbarn" with four tracks. This is where the museum stores its amazing collection of streetcars from all over the world.

The museum is open from May through October. You can ride the trolleys on Saturdays during these months. The biggest event of the year is the annual Steam-Up. This happens on the last weekend of July and the first weekend of August. Thousands of people come to ride the trolley during these two busy weekends.

Cool Trams and Trolleys to See

The Oregon Electric Railway Museum has a fantastic collection of old streetcars and trolleys. Many of these vehicles have interesting stories!

Portland "Council Crest" Streetcars (No. 503 and 506): These cars were built in 1904. They used to run in Portland. Car 503 even visited San Francisco a few times for special trolley festivals! These old cars helped inspire the design for new, vintage-style streetcars built later for Portland.

Blackpool Double-Decker Tram (No. 48): Imagine riding a two-story tram! This tram was built in 1928 in England. It ran on the Blackpool Tramway. It even operated on the Willamette Shore Trolley line in Portland for a while. It was moved to the museum in 2006 and returned to service in 2017.

Sydney O-Class Tram (No. 1187): This tram comes all the way from Sydney, Australia! It was built in 1912. This tram is often used for rides at the museum today.

Porto Streetcar (No. 210): This single-truck streetcar was built in 1940. It used to run in Porto, Portugal. The museum acquired it in 2006.

San Francisco PCC Streetcars (No. 1118 and 1159): These modern-looking streetcars were built in 1946. They used to carry passengers in San Francisco.

Hong Kong Double-Decker Tram (No. 12): Another double-decker tram! This one is from Hong Kong and was built in 1952. It was even shown at a big exhibition in Vancouver, Canada, before coming to the museum.

Brussels Streetcars (various numbers): The museum has several streetcars from Brussels, Belgium. Some were originally passenger cars that were later changed into "work cars" to help maintain the tracks. They arrived at the museum in 2015.

Milan Interurban (No. 96): This interurban car was built in 1930 and comes from Milan, Italy. It's a great example of a car that could travel longer distances between cities.

These are just a few examples. The museum has many more unique vehicles, including old locomotives and even a snow sweeper!