Albany trolley celebration documented in postcard image of trolley no. 3 on 1st St., 1909.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Map of Albany streetcar system as it was about 1910.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

First Street, Albany, early 1900s.

Oreg. Hist. Soc. Research Lib., ba007945

Albanys first streetcar at terminus of 1st and Washington Sts. in front of St. Charles Hotel, about 1890.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany Street Railway Steam dummy 3 and horsecar 1 headed to Goltra Park, 1890s.

Courtesy Robert Potts

Porter steam "dinky" locomotive and railroad coach in front of St. Charles Hotel on 1st and Washington Sts., about 1900.

Courtesy Robert Potts

Last Albany horsecar trip, car no. 1 at 2nd and Lyon, 1909.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Trolley 70 nearing Lyon St., Albany.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany trolleys 1 and 3 in front of Revere House on 1st and Ellsworth Sts., about 1910.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar No. 3 in front of Newport and Hornback lunch counter and Depot Hotel on Lyon St., 1910s.

Courtesy Mark Moore

Trolley in 76-78 series at Southern Pacific train depot, arrived from Los Angeles Ry. in 1912.

Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar, postcard, 1909
Albany trolley celebration documented in postcard image of trolley no. 3 on 1st St., 1909.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany rail map, c 1910
Map of Albany streetcar system as it was about 1910.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany, First St., early 1900s, ba007945
First Street, Albany, early 1900s.
Oreg. Hist. Soc. Research Lib., ba007945

Albany streetcar, first streetcar, ca 1890
Albanys first streetcar at terminus of 1st and Washington Sts. in front of St. Charles Hotel, about 1890.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar, steam dummy, 1890s
Albany Street Railway Steam dummy 3 and horsecar 1 headed to Goltra Park, 1890s.
Courtesy Robert Potts

Albany streetcar, steam donkey pulling coach, ca 1900
Porter steam "dinky" locomotive and railroad coach in front of St. Charles Hotel on 1st and Washington Sts., about 1900.
Courtesy Robert Potts

Albany streetcar, last horsecar trip, 1909
Last Albany horsecar trip, car no. 1 at 2nd and Lyon, 1909.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar, Trolley 70
Trolley 70 nearing Lyon St., Albany.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar, trolleys 1 and 3, ca 1910
Albany trolleys 1 and 3 in front of Revere House on 1st and Ellsworth Sts., about 1910.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

Albany streetcar, Lyon St, 1910s
Albany streetcar No. 3 in front of Newport and Hornback lunch counter and Depot Hotel on Lyon St., 1910s.
Courtesy Mark Moore

Albany streetcar, Trolley 76-78, 1912
Trolley in 76-78 series at Southern Pacific train depot, arrived from Los Angeles Ry. in 1912.
Courtesy Richard Thompson

The Albany Street Railway Company began operation on August 30, 1889, with a one-mile horse-car line that ran from the Southern Pacific depot to downtown by way of Lyon Street and First Avenue, terminating at Second and Washington. Car No. 1 was manufactured locally by A.J. Anslyn and the Albany Iron Works.

In 1892, an extension was built from the train station south to the Goltra Addition. A steam dummy engine pulled Car No. 1 over the half-mile route, which ended near the orphan home run by the Ladies Aid Society. Steam dummies were small locomotives housed in streetcar-like bodies that were believed to be more attractive, as well as less frightening to horses. 

Street Railway Vice President and banker William H. Goltra had been responsible for procurring the engine, however the railway found it too expensive to operate. When the engine broke down around 1900, both it and the Goltra Park extension were abandoned and Albany streetcars reverted to horsepower. By 1903, however, growing ridership allowed the railway to purchase a coach and a small Porter steam locomotive known as a “dinky.”

Electrification of the Albany Street Railway came after its acquisition by the Portland, Eugene and Eastern Railway on December 31, 1908 (the Southern Pacific Railroad later purchased the Portland, Eugene and Eastern Railway in 1915). Two trolleys served Albany’s single route. Interestingly, there is no mention of a car barn after the horse cars were retired. The new electric streetcars were apparently kept in a railway yard; and when they needed maintenance, they were swapped with sister cars from the Southern Pacific’s Salem or Eugene streetcar systems.

As it happened, trolleys would reign in Albany for less than a decade. In 1918, the city that had inaugurated the first motorized street railway in the state outside of Portland became the first to abandon streetcars.

Further Reading:

Thompson, Richard. Willamette Valley Railways. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2008.