Tuesday, October 22, 2013

the SkiWay Cloudliners of Mt Hood (Portland Oregon) worlds longest and largest tram at the time

Steve ( http://serviside.blogspot.com/ ) found the background info:

 these were modified municipal/school buses on a modified logging cable system.  Built on Mt. Hood (east of Portland) in Oregon, it was the world's longest and largest tram at the time - running from Government Camp to Timberline Lodge (old WPA project).  It took ten minutes to run the 3 miles, lifting 2,100 feet in elevation.

Known as Skiway Cloudliners, each coach (there were two) was assembled from a pair of Kenworth Model T-216 Pacific School Coaches.  Two front halves were mated together for dual-control, since they couldn't be turned around.   Each had an under-floor engine powering the rear wheels, which had the cable wrapped around them, and around the front wheels which acted as idlers - creating a self-propelled tram.  They were 35 feet long and could seat 36 passengers.  They had six extra inches of headroom (to accommodate skis), had reversible seats, and cost $40,000 each.

The system went into operation on February 3, 1951, and shutdown about 3 years later due to competition - the road to the lodge was improved in 1952 and the ground-bound shuttle bus to it cost 50 cents compared to the 75 cent fare for the Cloudliners.  The whole system was removed in 1961.
Pre-opening news article:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1028&dat=19510112&id=aswkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7Q4GAAAAIBAJ&pg=425,854535
The newsreel below is from 1956, but was probably filmed earlier:



found on fifties50s.blogspot.fr



also see https://mariothemultipla.wordpress.com/2018/03/06/all-aboard-the-skiway/

No comments:

Post a Comment