[3][4][note 1] Despite its short history, among West Coast interurbans it was unique, and it was considered the finest such system in the Pacific Northwest.

[3] The Southern Pacific (SP), feeling threatened by this competition, researched the feasibility of electrifying most of its Willamette Valley trackage.

[3] At the time, electric traction was seen as the way of the future, and in 1912, SP began converting existing steam routes to overhead electrification.

[3] The projected growth of the rural areas outside the main population centers of Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Albany and Eugene, however, did not materialize, despite the efforts of real estate promoters.

[3] The combination of this lack of growth, World War I and the rise of the automobile meant that the Red Electric system was far smaller than originally intended.

[2] Interurban service began operation on January 17, 1914,[1][5] under the Portland, Eugene and Eastern name, but SP replaced references to PE&E with "Southern Pacific Lines" in 1915.

[1] Service on the Westside line ran for the last time on July 28, 1929,[6] thereby ending all SP interurban service to Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Forest Grove, among other places situated along only that SP line, some of which continued to be served by interurbans of the Oregon Electric Railway for another three years.

[2] The remaining Red Electric service ended only a little more than two months later, on October 5, 1929, with the final runs on the Eastside line.

[3] The worst train accident in the history of Oregon interurban railways occurred east of the depot at Bertha (now within the Hillsdale neighborhood) on May 9, 1920.