TrainPages: TriMet's Westside Express Service (WES)

Monday, July 27, 2015

TriMet's Westside Express Service (WES)

I originally posted this on my old website on March 26, 2009.

On February 2, 2009, the transit system in Portland, Oregon called TriMet, or the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, began operation of a new commuter rail service called WES, or Westside Express Service, between the suburbs of Wilsonville and Beaverton on the Portland & Western Railroad. WES operates only on weekdays from 5:20 to 10:00 AM and from 3:30 to 8:00 PM, with a train departing in each direction approximately every 30 minutes. A trip between Wilsonville and Beaverton takes 27 minutes. The train crew consists of an engineer and a conductor, both of whom are Portland & Western employees.

The railroad line that WES runs on consists of portions of two lines that were once competitors. The portion from Wilsonville to Tigard was originally built in 1906 as the Oregon Electric Railway, an electric interurban railroad that began operation between Portland and Salem on New Year's Day in 1908. The Oregon Electric eventually reached Eugene, with branches to Banks, Forest Grove, Woodburn and Corvallis. The Oregon Electric's passenger service lasted until 1933. Electric freight service continued until 1945 when diesel locomotives took over. The portion of the line from Tigard to Beaverton was part of Southern Pacific's system and was used by their "Red Electric" interurbans, which carried passengers between Portland and Corvallis from 1914 to 1929 as competition to the Oregon Electric Railway. These lines remained competitors into the 1990s, with the Oregon Electric having become part of Burlington Northern Santa Fe while the Southern Pacific became part of Union Pacific. Today, both are operated by the Portland & Western Railroad.

DMU #1002 & Trailer #2001 in Wilsonville on January 14, 2009

WES operates with Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) built by Colorado Railcar Manufacturing of Fort Lupton, Colorado.

DMU #1002 & Trailer #2001 in Wilsonville on January 14, 2009

There are three powered units and one unpowered trailer.

DMU #1002 & Trailer #2001 in Wilsonville on January 14, 2009

The powered units seat 74 people each and have a top speed of 60 miles per hour. The unpowered trailer seats 80.

Trailer #2001 & DMU #1002 in Wilsonville on January 15, 2009

Each WES car features two bicycle hooks and free wireless internet access.

Trailer #2001 & DMU #1002 in Wilsonville on January 15, 2009

The first of them arrived in June, 2008. WES was originally scheduled to begin operation in the fall of 2008, but delays in delivery of the cars caused the opening to be pushed back to February 2, 2009, with the trains being tested throughout the fall and winter of 2008. Colorado Railcar's financial difficulties caused the company to shut down in December of 2008.

Trailer #2001 & DMU #1002 in Wilsonville on January 15, 2009

TriMet's WES is one of only two commuter systems to use Colorado Railcar DMUs, and the other, Florida's Tri-Rail, uses Bi-level versions, making TriMet's four single-level cars the only ones of their kind.

Trailer #2001 & DMU #1001 in Wilsonville on January 15, 2009

WES typically operates with two of the powered units operating separately, with the third powered unit operating with the unpowered trailer, as shown here.

DMU #1001 & Trailer #2001 in Wilsonville on January 15, 2009