The last two segments of the former Troutdale, Ore. branch of Portland Railway Light & Power are about to disappear, the result of the ROW's conversion to a multi-use recreational trail. The two segments, totalling about a quarter-mile of track, are just north of Division Street in northwest Gresham.

The branch, which provided an interurban connection to the Cazadero (Springwater) Line from 1907 to 1927, was last used around 1985 by East Portland Traction to deliver TriMet's first light rail cars to the Ruby Junction shops, which occupied part of the old ROW.

For the last 25 years, as the rest of the line's tracks were torn up, these two segments rusted and rotted away under layers of dirt and blackberry vines. Now, construction crews working on the ROW are unbolting the rail joints and pulling spikes from crossties as they prepare to haul away another remnant of the Portland area's interurban past.

By the end of the year, there will be a paved trail covering the old Troutdale ROW from Halsey Street in Fairview all the way to the old Linneman Junction station site in Gresham. At Linneman, the new trail will connect with the Springwater Trail, which was built on the old Cazadero Line ROW after its abandonment in the early 1990s.