Although this extension west along Jefferson street from Fifteenth [now SW 18th] was included in the initial franchise gained by Portland Cable Railway Company, it wasn’t opened for revenue service until April 1892. It served the southern entrance to City Park and the West End baseball field nearby, which the railroad company held an interest in. Initially, cable cars along Fifth street alternated their southern termini, with odd-numbered cars climbing the trestle to Portland Heights, and even-numbered cars going to the park. However, by late September 1892, the City Park line was operated as a stub except on Sunday afternoons when business to and from the park warranted the through service.

This first version of the line extended further west and north past the park and into what was then known as Kings Heights or Melinda Heights, but this section of track was cut off and abandoned when the water reservoirs in the park were built right across the line’s right of way from November 1893 to March 1895. Sporadic service was provided to the park while the reservoirs were being built. Once the reservoirs were complete the Portland Traction Company tried to negotiate a new franchise to enter the park, but the city council wanted the cable company to pay 1.5 cents per passenger for the right to lay a line entering the park itself – a huge take from a five-cent fare! So instead, the cars stopped right at the edge of Reservoir No. 4, just north of the gatehouse.

This photograph of an old cable car converted into an electric streetcar shows the City Park terminus, c. 1896. The car sits on a turntable with Reservoir No. 4 directly behind it. The reservoir’s gatehouse can just be seen to the far left. The turntable sat at the top of the truncated trestle that used to run all the way up to Kings Heights, as the grade up to this point from Jefferson Street is very steep. Photo: Oregon Historical Society.

Curiously, the Kings Heights part of the line isn’t shown on many contemporaneous maps: the best indication of its route is this 1896 map, which was made after the section was abandoned. The north-south part of the line corresponds with today’s SW Kingston Avenue, which was constructed on top of the old cable right-of-way.

The City Park line was electrified on May 1, 1896 when the lines on Fifth and Jefferson were converted to electric operation instead of by cable. It continued to operate mostly as a stub line from the corner of Jefferson and Eighteenth, though cars could be run through from the Fifth-street line on weekends and holidays or as otherwise required.

Around 1898, the park terminus was moved down the hill to the lower entrance to the park on Jefferson Street: the trestle—originally designed for cable cars and their ability to climb steep grades—was probably very challenging for the early electric motors.

Eventually, the City Park line was totally absorbed into the Jefferson line, though I’m trying to track down a definitive date for this occurrence.

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