A short-lived company that took on the assets of the defunct East Side Railway Company in February 1901, also taking on the operations of the extension of the Oregon City line to Canemah that had been constructed by the Oregon City & Southern Railway Company.
The Gladstone Park branch of the Oregon City line was almost immediately abandoned as the new company failed to come to terms with the Gladstone Real Estate Company, which owned the right-of-way and track. The track was torn up and sold to a logging concern in the Columbia River Gorge, and streetcar service to Gladstone Park did not resume until 1906.
The company also initially decided to abandon the Mount Scott steam motor line – then in a poor state of repair – but rapidly changed their mind and rebuilt and electrified the line when the City & Suburban Company were approached by local residents to extend their Waverly–Woodstock line to the area.
The company is mainly notable for the absolute incompetence of its day-to-day operations, which caused almost all of its employees to go on strike in June 1902 to protest what they saw as intolerable and dangerous working conditions brought about by the company’s superintendent Mr. Tiffany, and dispatcher Mr. Stuart. There had been a number of near head-on collisions brought about by the careless orders of the company, and one horrific crash between two cars in May 1902 caused a motorman to have a leg amputated. Tiffany and Stuart attempted to run the cars themselves, but patrons had little faith and boycotted the company almost completely. The strike was finally broken in mid-July 1902 after yet another head-on collision made the company’s position untenable with the public. All but five men were reinstated to their previous positions, though it was now under the auspices of the Oregon Water Power & Railway Company, which had taken over the prior company during the strike.
| Important Dates: | January 31, 1901 – Incorporation of the company (Labbe). February 13, 1901 – Assets of the East Side Railway transferred from F. S. Morris to the Portland City & Oregon Railway Co. for $1. June 30, 1902 – Company ceases operations at the end of the fiscal year. July 1, 1902 – Property of the Portland City & Oregon Railway Company transferred to the Oregon Water Power & Railway Company. | | --- | --- | | Preceded By: | ‣ ‣ | | Succeeded By: | ‣ |