The original MAX rail cars are retiring — just short of their 40th birthday — and TriMet is throwing them a Portland goodbye party on Saturday.
Known as MAX Type 1s, the boxy rail cars debuted in September 1986, when TriMet opened its first light-rail line, a 15-mile project from Gresham to downtown Portland that cost $214 million.
The Type 1s had an expected life cycle of 30 years, but they held on until 2024, when TriMet started decommissioning them, officials wrote in an announcement for the party.
The public is invited to come celebrate the rail cars — one of which has been donated to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in Brooks — at Holladay Park from noon to 3 p.m…