The official publication of The Webfooters Post Card Club in Portland, Oregon

Volume 49 Issue Number 11 November 2015 www.thewebfooters.com

Special Presentation at 11:00 am – Author Chuck Rollins will tell How he Turned his Postcard Album into a Published Book

Annual Meeting Details – see page 2. Horse-Drawn Streetcars – see page 4.

Horse-drawn streetcars

Annual Meeting – November 21, 2015 Russellville Grange 12105 NE Prescott Street

9:00 am to 3:00 pm

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Annual Meeting – November 21, 2015 Elections and Business Meeting at 10 am

Special Presentation at 11 am

How to Turn Your Postcard Album into a Published Book

Speaker: Author Chuck Rollins

Chuck Rollins began a logging company after completing a tour in the U.S. Marine Corp. He worked as a

timber faller for 25 years and as a public works employee at Wood Village for 15 years after that. In

retirement, his hobbies include being a part-time history detective, fishing, rock hounding, listening to

logging stories, visiting logging sites and collecting logging postcards.

What has always thrilled him are the stories and photos that came out of the woods in the days when trees

were huge and the men who cut them, rope-muscled and wiry, faced death every day. 'In some camps,

(there was) a death a day.'

In 1977, Rollins began collecting photo postcards – pictures that the loggers took themselves – showing

their work in the woods. Eastman Kodak made an autographic camera that used a postcard format. You

could even open a small hatch on the back to inscribe information on the picture and it came back

developed as a post card.

Rollins amassed a collection of photos and in 2010 he published a 153-page pictorial book, which features

his photo collection, his text and comments about the craft and art of felling giant trees.

Breaking NEWS: Late word comes that Carole Furness is planning to attend our next

meeting and bring her latest finds. Terry Weis is having a sale on Dollar cards. He has slashed the price to

just 25 cents each. You can expect 26 quarter card boxes.

Refreshments—Thanks to Irene Adams for providing the lunch at our October meeting. Please consider signing up to bring lunch to a meeting. We reimburse up to $40, so all you have to do is bring or make it!

LUNCH VOLUNTEERS

NOVEMBER DON

NELSON

DECEMBER HOLIDAY

POTLUCK

JANUARY NEED A

VOLUNTEER

Show & Auction— We are happy to announce a new venue for our Auction: Our next Webfooters Auction will be held at Paige Auction at 6429 SW Macadam Avenue in Portland. We are still trying to find a suitable location for our Show.

Dues—The board discussed increasing annual dues to cover our costs for printing and mailing the newsletter and renting the Grange for our monthly meetings which costs over $17 per person. We are suggesting that dues be increased to $18/individual and $20/family. Members present at the Annual Meeting in November will vote on the resolution. We are also looking into taking PayPal for dues.

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SALEM COIN – STAMP & POST CARD SHOW DECEMBER 5-6, 2015

2330 17th Street NE in Salem

Doors open: 10:00 am to 4:30 pm (both days) $3 Admission (Under 18 Free)

Free Parking

Over 70 tables - Coin, Stamp and Post Card dealers from around the United States

A.N.A. and P.N.N.A. Information/Exhibits/Hourly and End of Show Raffles

Type and Proof Coins/Gold and Silver/Mint and Proof Sets

Tokens/Currency/Stamps/Post Cards/Ancients/Books

Free Grab Bag for young collectors/Penny squisher machine demonstration

Appraisals made on Sunday Dec. 6th at 1:00 pm

Sponsored by: The Salem Numismatic Society

For information: Contact Danny B. at: 503-588-8162 Email: mailto:d.bisgaard@comcast.net

www.oregoncoinclubs.org

(paid advertisement)

From I-5: take exit 256, the Market Street Exit Go west and turn right onto 17th Street

Go about a mile and watch for the signs to the Fairgrounds on the right

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Horse-drawn Streetcars

Willamette Bridge Railway horsecars assemble before starting their daily schedules. This view from 1888 shows the busy streetcar operation which kept fresh horses rotating with cars lined up at the carbarn at what is now SE Morrison and Grand streets.

Electric streetcars have been operating for many years, but the first streetcars were pulled

by horses. The first tram services in the world were believed to have been started by

the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in Wales, using specially designed carriages on an

existing tramline built for horse-drawn freight dandies. Fare-paying passengers were carried

on a line between Oystermouth, Mumbles and Swansea Docks beginning in 1807.

The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad began carrying passengers in 1809, although its

main purpose was freight.

In the United States the very first streetcar appeared on November 26, 1832, on the New

York and Harlem Railroad in New York City. The cars were designed by John

Stephenson of New Rochelle, New York and constructed at his company in New York City.

The earliest streetcars used horses and sometimes mules, usually two as a team, to haul the

cars. By the mid-1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the USA operating over

6,000 miles of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using horsecars.

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A Multnomah Street Railway horsecar operating in Portland.

Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many

hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and

produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with

storing and then disposing of. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles

a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in the

stable for each horsecar.

Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered streetcars following the invention

by Frank J. Sprague of an overhead trolley system on streetcars for collecting electricity

from overhead wires. His spring-loaded trolley pole used a wheel to travel along the wire. In

late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful

large electric street railway system in Richmond, Virginia. Long a transportation obstacle,

the hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and they were an excellent proving

ground for acceptance of the new technology in other cities. Within a year, the economy of

electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities.

See the full color Webfooter Extra at:

http://www.thewebfooters.com/html/newsletter_archives.html

6

Pictured is the final day that horsecars were used in Portland with the final trip of the

Transcontinental Street Railway Car No. 22 on June 20, 1892.

Portland’s first street transit system was franchised in 1871 by railroad magnate Ben

Holladay and Associates. The actual applicant for the franchise was Holladay’s partner Levi

Estes who along with D. Stimson operated a sawmill. They joined Holladay and J.H. Mitchell

who were the principal stockholders. On Sept. 6, 1871, the Portland Street Railway

Company was granted a 25-year franchise to operate the length of First Street. After several

setbacks, construction was finally completed and the first horse-drawn streetcar in Portland

began operating on Dec. 7, 1872. The road was finished at a cost of $10,000. The cars ran on

iron rails which were originally purchased for use on the Oregon Central Railroad. Many of

the rails were damaged in transit, so they were all laid bottom side up. Four new bobtail cars

were purchased from Kimball & Co. of San Francisco for about $1,100 each and with 10

horses and two miles of track the line opened.

Expansion was necessary in 1883 when eight double-ended cars were ordered and additional

passing tracks were added for more frequent service. At the height of its operations, the

Portland Street Railway Company operated eleven horsecars with a total of 35 horses. Each

car was drawn with a single horse, but on steep grades, two horses were sometimes used.

The second horse was called a “Hill Horse.” The first lines in Portland were operated on First

Street, Fifth Street, Burnside, Davis Street and Washington Street, all on the west side.

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Old Number 3 in Milwaukie after a fresh coat of paint.

Beginning about 1880, competitors to the Portland Street Railway Co. began operating in

Portland. Several different lines were formed and many of the newer lines offered service to

East Portland. Much of the original equipment was sold back and forth between the

companies due to forced sales by receivers. When Ben Holladay passed away in 1887, assets

of the Portland Street Railway Co. became entangled in litigation involving the Holladay

estate.

In December 1888, part of the original assets of the Portland Street Railway Co. were sold to

a company in Vancouver, Washington, the Columbia Land & Improvement Co. Three of the

first horse drawn cars to operate in Portland were sold to this company. Originally, the

Columbia Land & Improvement Co. was franchised to install and operate a water system for

the city of Vancouver, but managed as part of their real estate operations to branch into the

transit business. They operated a 30-block line from the ferry terminal to Vancouver Heights.

In 1893, Columbia was absorbed by Portland interests and eventually the line was electrified.

The early horse-drawn streetcars were soon joined by and replaced by steam trains and

eventually electric trolleys. Portland’s first electric streetcar took to the rails in 1889 and it

carried passengers across the first Steel Bridge to the town of Albina.

The original Ankeny carbarn was built in 1892 by the City & Suburban Railway Co. and it

was located at 24th and East Burnside. After a fire destroyed it in 1894, the Ankeny carbarn

was rebuilt at 28th and East Burnside on the east side of 28th.

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Old Number 3 after being on display in Milwaukie for several years.

When fire destroyed the original Ankeny carbarn, five of Portland’s original horsecars were

leveled to ashes. Only three of the original horsecars remained in operation in Vancouver, and

two were subsequently scrapped. When operations of Columbia Land and Improvement Co.

were absorbed by Portland interests, the only remaining horsecar that had operated in

Portland found its way back home and it was named “Old Number 3.”

Over the years, the car moved from carbarn to carbarn and it was used for exhibits and

parades. After ending up taking up precious space at the Piedmont Division carbarn,

Superintendent of Equipment, Earl Richardson took an interest in the car and he bought it

from Portland Traction Co. in 1948. Title of the car was transferred to Richardson and he

moved the car to his residence at Oak Grove where he gave it a fresh coat of paint and

varnish. Richardson reported that his place swarmed with people young and old on weekends

who wanted to see Old Number 3.

Interest in the car waned, and in 1949 the car was presented to the Milwaukie Historical

Society. Exposure to the elements and vandalism soon took a toll and Old Number 3 fell into a

stage of ruin and disrepair. After being on display in Milwaukie for five years, the car was put

into “drydock” at the shops of Albina Engine & Machine Works where expert craftsman were

assigned to the restoration project. After a complete restoration, the car soon returned to

Milwaukie where it remains today.

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A view of First Street in Portland in 1890 showing the advantages of paved streets and horsecars.

Passengers could ride the horsecars for five cents and they could board at either end of the

car. However, the fare box was located near the operator. Each fare was acknowledged by the

ringing of a bell, signifying that the fare had been collected. A metal trough was used to

assist the operator in the collection of fares. Passengers who boarded the car from the

opposite end of the operator were expected to deposit the fare in the inclined trough which

ran to the fare box. The trough was mounted on a pivot which allowed it to be used from

either end. Coins would tend to get stuck in the trough and newsboys who boarded to sell

newspapers were said to pocket a stray nickel or two that may have become stuck in the

trough.

Horses were more highly regarded than the workmen. Operators worked 12 to 14 hours a day

while horses put in a four-hour day. The original cars were designed to carry 12 seated

passengers, but it was common to have 25 or more passengers ride at a time. Seats were

mere wooden benches which ran lengthwise in the cars. The benches were made of slats and

were not upholstered in any way and there was no heat, even in winter months. Although

the operator stood out in front, many passengers swore that the inside of the car was colder

than the outer platform. With electrification came lights, heat and later, air conditioning.

See the full color Webfooter Extra at: http://www.thewebfooters.com/html/newsletter_archives.html

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Club Officers

President/Editor……………………………………………………....……..Mark Moore

Vice President……………………………………………………………..Maggie Parypa Secretary………………………………………………………….……Carole Bess White Treasurer………….…………………………………………………………….Arne Soland

Member-at-Large………………………………..………..………….………….Ken Reis Member-at-Large…………………….……………………..……………..Stewart Reed

Calendar November 18 – Webfooters Board Meeting at Elmer’s Restaurant (no host) 10001 NE Sandy Blvd – 6:30 pm (Board meetings held every other month) November 21 – Webfooters Post Card Club Meeting at Russellville Grange 12105 NE Prescott St near 122nd & Sandy Blvd – 9 am to 3:00 pm December 19 – Webfooters Post Card Club Meeting at Russellville Grange 12105 NE Prescott St near 122nd & Sandy Blvd – 9 am to 3:00 pm

For the latest news, visit our website:

www.thewebfooters.com

Webfooters Post Card Club PO Box 17240

Portland OR 97217-0240

Horse-Drawn Streetcars - See page 4