The early electrification plans of the Portland, Eugene & Eastern Railway Company included building an electrified cut off from Oswego down to Hubbard, where it would have joined and paralleled the Southern Pacific main line to points south. A new double-track bridge over the Willamette River was to be constructed near New Era. This line would have used some of the right-of-way of the isolated Willamette Falls Railway, and detailed engineering and right-of-way drawings exist for it.

As well as providing a river-level route for electric cars down to Albany and beyond, it was also planned to use the cut off for steam trains to allow them a more direct route into Portland. Additionally, the main electric car shops were planned to be built on the line at Bolton, just north of West Linn. However, both the cut off and the shops were never constructed.

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