Proto-Future and the Beginner's Guide to Model Railroading
Oct 2, 2026 · 20 min · 10 segments
Audio from the YouTube video series describing my journey to visit, ride, and bicycle every DMU system in the US. Video found at: https://www.youtube.com/@\G\IV…
Portland, Oregon has one of the largest light rail systems in the entire country and the single largest and most successful streetcar system, not only in terms of total ridership but also in terms of ridership per kilometer.
Unlike most other US cities which built a short three to five kilometer starter line and then didn't finish it, Portland actually has a large and integrated transit system of just streetcars, not even including the light rail.
The West Side Express Service, or WES, is officially categorized as a commuter rail system, although it in no way resembles any known commuter rail system except for maybe service hours, which we'll cover later.
It opened in February 2009 as the third DMU in the US, and it is operated by TriMet, the local transit agency of Portland, between Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon.
It was originally supposed to be a true commuter rail system, but it suffered thirteen years of mission drift in planning and execution.
It originally actually opened using Budd rail diesel cars, which is actually not the first time this has happened either for commuter rail or DMUs.
Overall, it operates along twenty-four kilometers but with only five stations, and it has a total of a hundred and twenty-five thousand riders a year or three hundred and forty a day, which is not stellar.
This works out to be fourteen daily riders per kilometer or sixty-eight per station, which actually makes it one of the worst underperformers, not just of DMUs, but also of all transit modes period in the entire United States.
However, what makes this interesting is that every single train I rode was practically standing room only.
We'll get a little bit more into why this is the case with their schedule, but suffice it to say they only run one car trains three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.
Anyway, so hopefully one day WES will actually become more important as there is a light rail extension of the Green Line, the Southwest Corridor, that has been discussed on and off for years, and if this actually does get opened up, not only will it provide another connection into downtown Portland, it will actually transform the WES into an orbital line instead of a radial line on top of a radial line.
But unfortunately for now, that is the future and not even certain at the moment.
Portland, Oregon has one of the largest light rail systems in the entire country and the single largest and most successful streetcar system, not only in terms of total ridership but also in terms of ridership per kilometer.
Unlike most other US cities which built a short three to five kilometer starter line and then didn't finish it, Portland actually has a large and integrated transit system of just streetcars, not even including the light rail.
The West Side Express Service, or WES, is officially categorized as a commuter rail system, although it in no way resembles any known commuter rail system except for maybe service hours, which we'll cover later.
It opened in February 2009 as the third DMU in the US, and it is operated by TriMet, the local transit agency of Portland, between Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon.
It was originally supposed to be a true commuter rail system, but it suffered thirteen years of mission drift in planning and execution.
It originally actually opened using Budd rail diesel cars, which is actually not the first time this has happened either for commuter rail or DMUs.
Overall, it operates along twenty-four kilometers but with only five stations, and it has a total of a hundred and twenty-five thousand riders a year or three hundred and forty a day, which is not stellar.
This works out to be fourteen daily riders per kilometer or sixty-eight per station, which actually makes it one of the worst underperformers, not just of DMUs, but also of all transit modes period in the entire United States.
However, what makes this interesting is that every single train I rode was practically standing room only.
We'll get a little bit more into why this is the case with their schedule, but suffice it to say they only run one car trains three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.
Anyway, so hopefully one day WES will actually become more important as there is a light rail extension of the Green Line, the Southwest Corridor, that has been discussed on and off for years, and if this actually does get opened up, not only will it provide another connection into downtown Portland, it will actually transform the WES into an orbital line instead of a radial line on top of a radial line.
But unfortunately for now, that is the future and not even certain at the moment.
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