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Old Town Chinatown, TriMet MAX Light Rail Station

Blue Line To Gresham Just Left
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The Old Town Chinatown station served two lines. The blue line ran between Gresham at one end and Hillsboro at the other end. The red line ran between the Portland International Airport at one end and Beaverton at the other end. Here was a blue line train just departing Old Town Chinatown station and about to head over the river toward Gresham.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:49:23 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3926
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Driver Gave Scale To Train Size
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The driver on the blue MAX line train glanced at the camera as he passed by. The huge size of each light rail train car could be judged by contrasting it to the normal size of the driver.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:49:39 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3927
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The Station Was Elevated
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The station was elevated to make boarding easier. Unfortunately, the system ran five different makes of light rail cars, so that they did not all align well with the raised stations. Some of the red line cars had ramps that would create a bridge when someone in need of extra help was waiting.

The station itself had a nice roof to protect from rain and sun. The lack of seating was perhaps forgivable because the trains ran so often.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:49:52 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3928
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TriMet Still Used Ticket Machines
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The TriMet system still used ticket machines for fares. They were currently experimenting with RFI cards to replace tickets. I witnessed one person rushing to catch the train by buying a ticket from this machine before the train left.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:50:51 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3929
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Arrival Times Were Displayed
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The illuminated signs told when the next train would arrive. Unlike other transit districts, the time of arrival was displayed, rather than the number of minutes to wait. The sign would alternate between the list of arrival times and a display of the current time.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:50:57 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3930
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Man Examined System Map
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An information kiosk was present that, among other things, displayed a map of the system. Note that boarding was allowed at all doors. Fare inspectors boarded random cars to check for paid fares.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:51:05 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3931
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Tree Lined Street
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The red and blue lines ran along a tree lined street. This direction faced old town.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 07:52:14 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3932
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Interior Of A Red Line Train
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The interior of one of the red line trains looked typical of most public transit vehicles. Lots of bars upon which to hang and easy to clean seats. This particular train was headed toward the Airport.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 13:16:30 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3934
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View From The Red Line
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Four lines ran over the steel bridge. Here was the view looking north from the steel bridge while riding a red line TriMet MAX train.


Old Town Chinatown external link   •  TriMet external link MAX external link Light Rail Station   •  NW 1st between NW Davis and NW Everett Streets   •  Portland, Oregon   •  (Photo Taken 13:20:47 Saturday 8 August 2015)   •  (Story Posted Thursday 20 August 2015)   •  © 2015 Bryan Costales Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License #C15_3945
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