Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Flying Bus: Remembering the Mt. Hood Skiway Tram

Seventy-five years ago this winter, a city bus rose off the ground at Government Camp and began climbing Mt. Hood – not on pavement, but on steel cables suspended high above the forest. Packed inside were reporters, photographers, and radio announcers, all invited to witness the debut of one of the most unusual transportation experiments in Oregon history: the Mt. Hood Skiway.

The January 3, 1951 preview run marked the arrival of what promoters called the longest aerial tramway of its kind in the world. Part ski lift, part streetcar, and part logging technology, the Skiway was designed to carry passengers 3.2 miles uphill from Government Camp to Timberline Lodge, a climb of more than 2,000 feet. Though its lifespan was short, the Skiway remains one of Mt. Hood’s most audacious ideas – an emblem of postwar optimism and engineering bravado.

A Postwar Vision

The Skiway was conceived by Dr. J. Otto George, a Portland physician and avid skier who spent weekends running a small clinic in Government Camp. In the years following World War II, skiing surged in popularity, and George believed Mt. Hood needed a modern, efficient way to move visitors between the village and Timberline Lodge.

In 1947, George and a group of investors formed the Mt. Hood Aerial Transportation Company. That fall, the U.S. Forest Service granted a permit to build an aerial tramway on federal land. Construction began in 1948, with crews clearing a wide corridor through forest and snow. The massive project ultimately required 38 steel towers and more than 25 miles of cable.

Originally named the “Skyway,” the project was quickly renamed the “Skiway” after copyright issues surfaced. The new name soon became synonymous with a design that set the system apart from any other tram.

The “Most Extraordinary of Busses”

Rather than using small gondola cars, the Skiway relied on two modified city buses, soon nicknamed “cloudliners.” Adapted in Portland, each bus was fitted with two gasoline engines designed to pull the vehicle along fixed steel traction cables – a system borrowed from heavy-duty logging operations.

Each car seated 36 passengers in heated cabins featuring large windows and forward-facing seats. The experience, however, was anything but quiet. As the bus climbed from tower to tower, cables clanked and engines roared. Oregonian writer James Stewart, who rode the Skiway during its preview run, described it memorably, noting that “practically everyone aboard was too busy holding his breath and gaping at the spectacular scenery” to focus on the mechanics. He also observed that the “clanking and grinding of its cables make conversation aboard impossible.”

The Skiway opened to the public on February 3, 1951. A one-way ticket cost 75 cents, and early crowds lined up to try what popular media dubbed “the most extraordinary of buses.” That summer, the tram celebrated its 1,000th trip, and souvenir tokens were issued to mark the occasion.

Trouble on the Line

Despite its novelty, the Skiway struggled almost from the start. The buses were heavy and fuel-hungry, placing immense strain on the cables and towers. The trip took 20 to 25 minutes one way, and because each bus could make only a single round trip per hour, capacity was limited to just 72 passengers at a time.

Even more damaging was competition from the ground. Improvements to the Timberline Highway opened around the same time as the Skiway, making the drive faster and easier. A conventional shuttle bus could reach the lodge in less time and for only 50 cents.

For many riders, one trip on the Skiway was enough. As the novelty wore off, ridership declined. By the mid-1950s, the tram often ran only on weekends or during periods of peak demand. Company records show repeated discussions about redesigning the system – replacing the buses with smaller gondolas or shifting to a more conventional lift model – but the cost of rebuilding proved daunting. One board member, after riding the tram himself, complained of the “shrieks” and jolts over the towers, concluding the system had been fundamentally flawed in its conception.

What Remains

In 1956, just five years after opening, the Mt. Hood Skiway ceased operations. A liquidation committee followed, and by the early 1960s, the towers and cables had been removed. The buses were eventually sold off or scrapped.

The Skiway’s lower terminal building, however, found new life. Reopened in 1962 as Thunderhead Lodge, it still stands in Government Camp today. On the mountain, the old tram route remains visible, now followed by the Glade Trail and Skiway Trail, used by skiers descending from Timberline.

For those who pause along the old route today, imagining a city bus floating through the winter air, the Skiway still feels less like a mistake than a marvel – one that dared, briefly, to lift Mt. Hood transportation off the ground.