Sometimes called the “East Burnside” or “East Pine” line.
A short-lived and unloved line that was the victim of street railway company consolidation. Originally planned to be the Portland Railway Company’s grand line out to Sunnyside along SE Salmon Street (competing with the Hawthorne and Mount Tabor lines, each just a few blocks north and south), construction delays meant the initial segment only opened in late 1904, just before the competing companies merged into the Portland Consolidated Railway Company. The extension eastwards was no longer deemed necessary, so the line remained as an odd little stub from the corner of Union and East Burnside.
In August 1907, the line was extended westwards over the Burnside Bridge and along Burnside Street to the intersection of NW 16th and Washington, where it would have interchanged with the lines that ran along Washington to points further west. There’s some evidence that there was a separate “West Burnside” line that ran from the west end of the Burnside Bridge to NW 16th starting on June 1, 1907, possibly because the poor condition of the bridge precluded running extra cars over it. However, by August the East Burnside cars were running the whole length of the line.
By December 1909, the line was declared abandoned due to low ridership and duplication of other, more successful routes nearby. It seems likely that the shuttle service between Fifth and Sixteenth on Burnside began around this time, though this route is only confirmed as existing after December 1910 at present – an article outlining streetcar service on New Years Eve notes it by name. This service existed solely to keep the franchise on Burnside active. Derided as only being good enough to save patrons a walk of a few blocks at best and hemorrhaging money, it was finally abandoned for good without much outcry in December 1915.
| Important Dates: | September 26, 1904 – Service between East Burnside/Union and East 18th/Stark December 15, 1909 – Initial abandonment; replaced by Burnside shuttle March, 1910 – Track east of East Burnside and 10th is torn up December 1915 – Final abandonment of the line | | --- | --- | | Operating Company: | ‣ ‣ ‣ ‣ | | Gauge: | Narrow (3-feet, 6-inches) | | Headboard: | Unknown | | Car Barn: | ‣ |