On April 18, 2026, Portland’s TriMet held a “Goodbye MAX Type 1” farewell event to celebrate the retirement of the last of the Type 1 light rail vehicles (LRV) at Holladay Park in Portland. The LRVs were the first cars purchased for the TriMet MAX System when the original line opened in 1986. Now, nearly 40 years later, many parts for these cars are no longer commercially manufactured, and TriMet has been making parts in-house or scavenging them from out-of-service cars to keep others operating. With the arrival of the newest Type 6 cars in the past couple of years, it was time to retire the Type 1s.

Over 3,000 people gathered at Holiday Park in Portland to say farewell to the TriMet MAX Type 1 LRV. Photo by Randall Pratt.

From the late 1800s into the 1940s, Portland and the surrounding metropolitan region had numerous trolley lines and interurbans connecting Portland in all directions. With the advent of buses and car culture in the 1950s, nearly all of those services were eliminated. In 1977, planning began for the first step toward reconnecting Portland by rail to communities like Gresham, Hillsboro and Clackamas. Construction began in Gresham in 1983 and continued west into Portland until opening day on September 5, 1986. MAX was the second light rail system on the West Coast, behind San Diego, and one of only a handful in the United States, Canada and Mexico when it was built. Twenty-six Type 1 LRVs were purchased from Bombardier to operate on the original line. In the nearly 40 years since their arrival, each car has put on more than 1 million miles in service to the Rose City.

Over 3000 people gathered to send MAX car 124 off in style. Attendees were able to sign the outside of car 124 and had a chance to sit in the cab for a photo. TriMet hosted a few displays, including the history of the Type 1 cars, some Lego models that a fan had built and an opportunity to order exclusive merchandise celebrating the Type 1 cars. There was a costume contest, and the winner took home a piece of one of the cars. 

While the Type 1s are no longer in service in Portland, one car has been preserved at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Brooks, about 45 minutes south of Portland.

—Randall Pratt

Signatures, cartoons, stickers and farewell messages cover the outside of Train Car 124. Photos by Randall Pratt.

Many creative costumes were on display. The most creative won a piece of a Type 1 LRV. Photo by Randall Pratt.

Final movement: Type 1 LRV 124 departs Gateway Transit Center and is about to duck under NE Glisan St. Photo by Gianni Pulone.