Car 506 in its operating days on the Council Crest line.

One of two surviving examples of the famous “Council Crest” cars; the other being No. 503. Both are currently at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Brooks, Oregon.

Once service ended on the Council Crest line in February 1950, the Portland Traction Company offered cars 503 and 506 to interested parties for preservation. Car 506 was earmarked either for the parks department or the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. In a truly bewildering moment, the board of OMSI rejected the acquisition, unsure of the “suitability of the streetcar as a museum exhibit.”

The city stepped in and offered to place the car – which had been freshly painted by Portland Traction Company staff – atop Council Crest, and it was trucked up to the summit on November 21, 1950. Fears of vandalism despite being placed close to the park caretaker’s cottage were confirmed that very night as thieves made off with one of the brass control handles.

A rare color photograph of Old 506 in Council Crest Park, taken c. 1951.

Car 506 in January 1969, with an odd paint job and a very bent trolley pole. Photo: Jim Bailey/Facebook.

Car 506 sat overlooking Portland, braving the elements and vandals for the next 20 years, until defeat was finally admitted and the car was moved to TriMet’s Center Street facility for repairs in June 1970. Little work was done on the car, despite a fund-raising effort in 1973 led by Larry Griffith of the OERHS to restore No. 503 and No, 506 and place them on an operating track in one of Portland’s parks, with Washington Park a preferred option. Car 506 was finally moved to the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society’s Trolley Park at Glenwood in August 1975, and thereafter to the museum’s current location in Brooks.

Unlike No. 503, No. 506 retains its original narrow-gauge trucks, so it can’t be operated on the museum’s standard-gauge track and remains a static display piece.

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