Along for the Ride: Streetcar Music Festival

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Guitars, cellos, saxophones, toy pianos; how could I not include the Streetcar Mobile Music Fest as this week's Along for the Ride?

Click play to listen: [audio:http://lascheratlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Along-for-the-Ride-Portland-Streetcar-Mobile-MusicFest.mp3|titles=Along for the Ride - Portland Streetcar Mobile Music Fest]

Hosted by PDX Pop Now!, The New Rail~Volutionaries, Women's Transportation Seminar and Portland Streetcar, Inc., the event featured musicians performing aboard various streetcars throughout the night. As Art Pearce told Portland Afoot's Michael Andersen, it was the "Sunday Parkways of transit." Instead of reading about it here, why not listen to what it was like when I went Along for the Ride? While you're listening, click here to take a glance at my photos, which you can see after the jump (you can also find out how to contribute a few bucks to keep "Along for the Ride." alive).

I can't say the experience was a normal glimpse at everyday life aboard the streetcar, but it did seem to entertain two distinct groups of people: regular streetcar riders who stumbled upon the musicians as they explored Downtown and Northwest Portland, and an audience who came out specifically for the event. Some rode the entire length to listen to a particular musician's full set. Others, like me, hopped from streetcar to streetcar for a chance to experience the variety of performances. Indeed, I became so focused on listening to the music that I nearly forget I was riding the streetcar, and definitely lost track of which neighborhoods I was in when. Click any of the images to enlarge and start a slideshow. [shashin type="albumphotos" id="7" size="small" crop="y" columns="4" caption="y" order="date" position="center"]

Along for the Ride: Max Blue Line 1 -- Hillsboro

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This week's installment of Along for the Ride, my series of weekly chronicles of Portland, OR-area transit lines. is an audio postcard from a rush hour trip aboard the MAX Blue Line to Hillsboro. In a future edition, I'll explore the rest of the line, from Downtown Portland, east to Gresham.

Listen to the Story

[audio:http://lascheratlarge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Along-For-The-Ride-Max-Blue-Line-to-Hillsboro.mp3|titles=Along For The Ride - Max Blue Line to Hillsboro]

Along for the Ride is an evolving experiment in exploring Portland's transit system. I'm excited to hear what you have to say about it. If you like this project or if you hate it, why not let me know? Comment! Share the project on your social networks. Participate by suggesting routes to take and things to see along the way, or anything else you think might improve this project. And, if you want to make it more possible for me to ride more often, and to take time doing these stories, why not offer a few dollars? Just click below.