It began with this weird looking tower being constructed on the east side of I-5 just as begins to dump right into downtown Portland. I was (and still am) fascinated by it's unique architecture, looking like any moment it would topple to the ground and crush hapless motorists on the freeway below.Eventually I found that it was the support tower for the Portland Tram. Ahhhh - the Portland Tram!
Like any project of this magnitude it was not without issues, particularly budget. Significantly over budget already, cost overruns followed cost overruns. Initially budgeted for $15.5 million, the project came in at $57 million! That's over twice what I make in a year! Leaving a fired program director in it's wake, the spiraling budget almost ground the project to a halt and abandonment.
Well, now it's finished and working great. Our friends Ed & Fern called us up one night a few weeks ago and said "let's go ride the tram". Sure, why not ride the tram? Also it was a cheap date as in the month of February rides were free, now the fare is 4 bucks for a round trip ticket.
There are two cabins, but I think a more appropriate moniker would be "eggs". Like silvery orbs escaping the gentle puff of a child with a bubble pipe they float above the Portland cityscape in a steady but unhurried pace.Here's the (boring) technical description: The Tram cabins travel 3,300 linear feet between the South Waterfront terminal adjacent to the OHSU Center for Health & Healing, and the upper terminal at the Kohler Pavilion on OHSU's main campus. Traveling at 22 miles per hour, the Tram cabins rise 500 feet for the three-minute trip over I-5, the Lair Hill neighborhood and the Southwest Terwilliger Parkway.
22 miles per hours is not blindingly fast, but when the eggs pass one another you get a sense of speed that is a unique sensation. Now here's the cool part they don't tell you - as the egg ascends up to and then passes over the crest of the tower there is a marked drop that will surprise you! Not scary enough to make kids cry, but more than you would expect. We rode the tram for six round trip cycles and after the first few times of jockeying for a window view from the cabin, I would strategically position myself right in the middle with the aid of a support rail. Passing over the tower gave me the opportunity to surf, if you will; the sudden descent. Woo hoo!
When the cabins dock, it is also very cool. It doesn't take much imagination to pretend that you are in a shuttle docking at a space station. I also enjoyed looking at the mechanics of the tram operations with the cables, wheels and counterweights.
My favorite part of the experience? Because the tram connects the OHSU Center for Health & Healing to Oregon Health & Sciences University (or as we locals call it - "pill hill") one would expect an extraordinary concern for safety and the tram has much redundancy and controls installed to reassure and reinforce how stable and safe the experience is. Note though that the concern for safety stretches beyond the tram itself to the Center for Health & Healing as demonstrated by this sign affixed above the toilets:
"Toilets and urinals are flushed with reclaimed water - do not drink"
Thank you! As it is not my habit to drink out of a toilet I'm sure that the admonition will apply to others who may occasionally succumb to the temptation.
For more about the tram you can visit here and here.
