The railroad offers passenger excursions using a historic or replica-historic trolley on a former Southern Pacific line previously known as the Jefferson Street branch.

This prompted several local governments in the area to establish a not-for-profit corporation to acquire the line and preserve the right-of-way for future mass transit.

[9] This consortium of governmental entities was initially composed of Metro, TriMet, the cities of Portland and Lake Oswego, and the counties of Multnomah and Clackamas, and it was later joined by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

The Portland terminus, with a ticket office in a leased trailer, was located next to Moody Avenue, below the west approach viaducts to the Marquam Bridge.

The consortium purchased the line from Southern Pacific in October 1988,[1][10] for US$1.9 million, including the cost of a planned extension in Lake Oswego, to be constructed by SP.

[16] The ends of the line remained the same as they had been during the 1987 trial service: near the Marquam Bridge in Portland, and near State Street and Terwilliger Boulevard in Lake Oswego.

[17] The ticket office was then relocated into a small building owned by Southern Pacific at the new Lake Oswego terminus, and since that time, round-trip excursions have started at the line's south end, rather than in Portland.

[18] In 1995, the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society again became the operator of the trolley service,[19] now on a longer-term basis, under contract to Lake Oswego.

Trolley operation resumed in August 1995, initially using a former Sydney, Australia open-sided streetcar, but only as a temporary substitute until the intended car could be moved to the line.

Charlie Hales, then a city commissioner, opined in 1998 that the line had an important future as part of the MAX light rail system.

As a tourist attraction, the line is most popular on the Fourth of July, when the Oaks Amusement Park fireworks display is viewable along the river, and in mid-December, when the area's Christmas Ships Parade on the Willamette can be viewed.

[2] After OERHS determined that repair of the 1932-built streetcar, Portland Brill car 813, would be prohibitively expensive in the foreseeable future, the group began looking for a replacement.

[31] In early 2013, a lease was secured on a replacement streetcar, and the non-profit group's goal was to resume service in summer 2013 on the southernmost part of the line.

It is car number 514, and it was moved from TriMet's Vintage Trolley carbarn next to the Rose Quarter Transit Center to Lake Oswego on March 26, 2013.

[3] One year later, following the discontinuation of Vintage Trolley service in July 2014, a second replica-Council Crest streetcar, car 513, was moved to Lake Oswego on September 8, 2014, and initially was placed into storage, awaiting later restoration.

When reopened in 2014, it was running only between Lake Oswego and Riverwood, but one year later, on August 8, 2015, service was extended north to Powers Marine Park (just south of the Sellwood Bridge).

[35] The 2017 season began on May 27, with the service's northern terminus still temporarily being at Powers Marine Park, but with the track in the area around the Sellwood Bridge having been reinstated and test runs made.

[44] In the mid-1990s, the consortium of governments that own the line secured a federal grant to fund most[44] of the $600,000 cost of building a carbarn in Lake Oswego.

The streetcar proposal faced opposition from residents of affluent neighborhoods near the tracks, but was preferred by Metro,[50] in part because BRT would likely require giving up one auto lane to buses in some sections to be effective, as the existing roadway, Hwy.