Yes, we know this is not a tram in the true sense of the word, but certainly an interesting form of transport, and our American cousins do refer to all forms of aerial cableway and cabin-cars as tramways and trams. Our postcard was sent on 9th July 1951 by 'Amy' from Timberline Lodge where she was staying, to her Grandma in Indiana, in what was the first year the line was in operation. Amy was surprised to see snow in July. It is a real photographic card numbered 17-178 from Sawyer's of Portland, Oregon, who at one time became US's largest card producers and were also famous for the View-Master stereo slide viewers and reels.
Oregon's Mount Hood Aerial Skiway (the name Skyway had been originally preferred, but was in use elsewhere) opened in January 1951, to connect Government Camp with Timberline Lodge, offering skiers and visitors a unique and scenic route to Mount Hood's ski slopes. It was created by the Mount Hood Aerial Transportation Company. The rolling stock was two vehicles which were custom built double-ended versions of single-deck buses, with reversible tram-style seats to allow passengers to always face forward, with each vehicle seating 36. A quite tram-like vehicle. They cost $40,000 each compared to the $16,500 for a conventional bus. Each used six Imperial gallons of fuel per return trip which took 25 minutes each way. As there were no passing places, the two vehicles would have to travel in the same direction together which limited the capacity to 72 passengers on an hourly service.
The vehicles operated hanging on a stationary cable and hauled themselves up the three-mile line, a technology borrowed from timber operations. The cables were 1½ inch diameter. Each vehicle was powered by two 185-horsepower petrol engines driving the pulley wheels located at floor level. The livery was red and yellow.
Once the initial novelty had worn off, the Skiway with its slow ascent and lack of capacity, lost much of its trade and closed in 1956 after just five years of operation. Today conventional cableways serve the ski area.
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