The site of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition at Portland, Ore., was very happily chosen, being picturesquely situated on the western bank of the Willamette River and directly overlooking a small lake, some 40 minutes by street street car service from the business center of the city. In preparation for the increased traffic, due to the influx of visitors to the Exposition, the Portland Consolidated Railway Company, which operates all the lines leading to the fair grounds, has gone to considerable care and expense in providing adequate transportation and terminal facilities. This portion of the fair is of equal interest from a street railway standpoint to the exhibits, of which a description was published last week, so that an account of the methods employed follows.

Diagram showing loops at and routes to the Fair grounds, Portland. [Note error in legend #3 – It should read “16th St.,” not “26th St.”]

The accompanying map shows the street railway company’s terminals immediately adjacent to the fairgrounds. A double-track loop was built, passing down Twenty-seventh Street and turning on Upshur Street past the main entrance to the Exposition. A special feature of this loop is the divergence of the tracks on Upshur Street, which for distance of 400 ft. or so were spaced with 17-ft. 6-in. centers. This leaves plenty of room between the cars for people to congregate and allows the cars to be reported on either side. On both tracks of this loop the cars run in the same direction. There is a slight downward grade on Upshur Street from Twenty-seventh Street, and this grade aids very material in the handling of cars slowly and carefully through the crowds which gather here on special days.

The following five separate lines of cars running on four double tracks handle all the traffic to the exposition: the Willamette Heights line runs out Thurman Street to Willamette Heights, passing a short block of 200 ft. south of the Exposition entrance, while the Twenty-third Street, Sixteenth Street, and South Portland lines are diverted to the loop tracks at the junction of Twenty-seventh and Thurman. The Morrison Street line runs down Twenty-seventh Street and directly around the loop. All these lines run over and connect with the main arteries of the city. Thus the Twenty-third Street and Sixteenth Street lines run out Washington Street, and when a little over half a mile from the business center of the city separate and have separate double tracks to the entrance loop. The Willamette Heights cars also run out Washington Street. The Sixteenth Street and South Portland lines run over the Thurman Street tracks for nearly a mile, and the Morrison Street lines serve a street of the same name for a like distance before it is diverted towards the fair grounds. These different lines cross and recross and are connected by curves and turn-outs at a number of different points so as to allow a variation in the route of the cars in case of accident, blockade or any other reason. For instance, on baseball days, the cars on the Twenty-third Street line could be run out to the ball grounds [Vaughn Park] instead of turning on the loop several blocks to the south.

The time-tables for the fair traffic were figured out on a basic service of six-minute intervals on four lines, the Twenty-third Street cars being considered extras. This made the lowest service to the Exposition grounds forty cars to the hour, which was found, however, to be inadequate. It was then decided to double up the service on the four lines and place a six-minute service on the Twenty-third Street line during the greater portion of the day, giving a carrying capacity to and from the grounds of ninety cars to the hour. On special days, second sets of extras are put on the various lines, bringing the capacity up to 130 cars, while for short periods of time the service has reached 150 cars to the hour.

The cars used on these lines are from 35 ft. to 38 ft. in length, are mounted on double trucks and have, as a rule, a single motor to each truck. The seating capacity ranges from forty to fifty people, though most cars will accommodate, when heavily loaded, as many as 150 people. The carrying capacity of the road, as figured for the Exposition, was thus, under extreme conditions of loading, about 12,000 per hour on ordinary occasions. On special occasions it would probably exceed 20,000 per hour. On the opening day, the attendance was between 39,000 and 40,000, and on July 4, the heaviest day for the street railway service up to the present, the turnstiles at the fair grounds registered 54,000. As is generally the case at expositions, after the display of fireworks in the evening, there was an immense crowd, all intent on getting home at the same time. The management of the Portland Consolidated Railway Company had made ample preparation for just such a contingency, and the crowds were swept away down town almost as fast as they congregated, so that by 11:45 p. m. the streets were practically clear of people.

The power for the operation of the fair traffic is taken from the steam station of the Portland General Electric Company, only 1/2 mile distant from the Exposition loop, and from the converting and distributing station of the same company, located in the heart of the city. The lines thus have the advantage of being fed from both ends, and up to date, on the days of heaviest traffic, no trouble has been experienced from the power, which in all cases has been adequate, and has had a steady voltage with hardly any drop on any portion of the lines.

At all the principal crossing points and at the entrance to the loop, switchmen have been stationed to signal passing cars, prevent interference of teams, etc., and at points where the cars have averaged more than one to the minute this step has been found a decided advantage in the expediting of traffic. The streets over which the majority of the cars run are provided with good pavements, and are, in consequence, largely used for general traffic, yet very little trouble has been experienced by the cars in the way of congestion from teams and vehicles. This fact is largely due to the efficiency of the switchmen mentioned, as well as to the street railway company’s foresight in running separate car lines to the Exposition grounds. As the loops at the fair entrance are located on city streets, there has been no attempt made to compel the purchase of tickets before boarding a car. The fares are taken up as with ordinary traffic.

Since the opening of the Exposition the travel on the outside lines of the Portland Consolidated, as well as on those leading to the Exposition grounds, has very materially increased. This is especially the case with the Portland Heights loop line, which climbs to an altitude of 700 feet above the harbor, and gives the visitor a beautiful view of the city, rivers, adjoining country and the Cascade range.

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