TriMet’s “trailblazing” Type I LRVs that helped establish light rail service in Portland, Ore.,  in the 1980s will be retired this month. As of this writing, only a handful were still on the active roster, but were not regularly in service. TriMet is planning a “Goodbye, MAX Type I” event for April 18, which will likely include a last run for the iconic cars. 

TriMet purchased 26 Type 1 cars from Bombardier. The cars were based on cars used overseas. While Bombardier tried to market the cars elsewhere, they were the only ones ever built and became the backbone of TriMet’s fleet for nearly four decades. TriMet began retiring the cars a few years ago as new Siemens S700s (known as Type 6s on TriMet) began to arrive on the property. Car 101 was donated to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in the summer of 2025. 

—Justin Franz