1912 Train

Tour Stop #2

103 S 1st

1912 Train

The train from Portland back in the teens and 20’s was the main mode of transportation to the coastal communities. It was an all-day dusty, long trip by car over gravel and plank roads, so the old steam trains played an important role in those early days. The train left Portland around 9AM and arrived in Rockaway at about 2:30. The first passenger train came to Rockaway in 1912. At the beach resorts in those days, it was quite an occasion when the Friday afternoon train arrived, bringing the daddies who were joining their families for the weekend, thus earning the name of “Daddy Train”. 

The Rockaway Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center occupies the red caboose to honor this heritage. 

Roaring 20s & Prohibition

  • More on the train history

    A steam locomotive parked at a small rural station, with nearby wooden buildings, a tent, and a parked car.

    The steam engines played an important role in establishing the coastal communities. The train remained the main mode of transportation through the 1920's. ​,


    Residents established businesses serving the new tourist economy and Rockaway thrived.  ​


    Lodging included modest tent parks and boarding houses, cottages sharing a central kitchen & commode, and “The Outlook Inn” a luxurious hotel and dining room at Lake Lytle. ​


    Nearly every house had a few cabins or tent floors and most of the stores had rooms upstairs to rent. 


    "Our family came down to Rockaway on the train in 1914 with bags, trunk and tent. ​

    Eleanor wore the first Jantzen knit bathing suit...Before that we wore suits with skirts and tops like a blouse and wore stockings when we went in the water. ​At train time we would all go to the depot to see who came on the train. … Our fathers came down every weekend first by train and later by car." Sue Grapp