Rollsigns from Oregon
Rogue Valley, Oregon
(Medford, Jacksonville, Central Point, White City, Eagle Point, Ashland and area)
Public transportation in the area known as Rogue Valley began in 1891 with the Rogue River Valley Railroad, a
single track passenger rail line connecting the railroad town of Medford to the county seat in Jacksonville. By 1915,
the White Pennant Auto Line had begun running nine-passenger touring cars four times a day between Medford
and Ashland. In 1920, the Ashland Medford Auto Line was charging 50 cents for the 34-minute journey and
passengers were given “good, comfortable robes” to wear. During the Second World War, Rogue Valley Transit
offered bus service for tens of thousands of soldiers and workers stationed at Camp White, where White City is
today. Valley transit service during the fifties and sixties was offered through private transportation companies
such as Evergreen and Mt. Ashland Stage Lines. In 1975, the Rogue Valley Transportation District (RVTD) was
formed, however it would take a year and a half to fully plan, organize and fund the system. RVTD was the first
of its kind in Oregon to be created under revised state law. Service finally began on July 18, 1977 with only two
vans serving a population of about 90,000 people. Over the following years, transit service was greatly expanded.
By 1982, a zone fare system was adopted, standardized schedules were established, and hours of service were
extended. Saturday service was launched in the summer of 1983. Today, RVTD provides conventional and
para-transit service across seven communities in the Rogue Valley area, with over 300 miles of bus routes.

Several remnants of their passenger railroad past can still be seen today. In Jacksonville, the "Rails to Trails" recreation
trail between Middle St. and Bigham Knoll Campus Park off East D St. is on the former Rogue River Valley Railway
right-of-way. Multiple small sections of the original passenger rail track still exist on West C St. between N. 3rd St.
and the downtown library parking lot. The original depot building still stands on the southwest corner of West C St.
and N. Oregon St. beside the downtown Post Office, along with a shelter building behind it where the RVTD bus stop
is, and there are other preserved elements in the parking areas for Jacksonville's downtown library and skate park.
This incomplete mylar front route sign was
reassembled after someone cut it up into
its individual exposures. Some exposures
may still be missing to complete the sign.
The Route 6 exposure doesn't appear to
have an exposure that matches the bottom
cut line. The end blank areas are also
missing, so the print date and sign tags
are unknown. It appears to be from
sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
With what does exist, it has 23 exposures.
"TRAINING BUS" appears to be the
last exposure on the orignal scroll.
Rogue Valley Transportation District GMC T6H-4523N "New
Look" #4519 was formerly bus #181 with RVTD. It was
previously owned by San Mateo County Transit District
(SamTrans) in San Mateo County, California as bus #181,
and before that was briefly run by the local San Mateo
Transit as bus #107. In this undated photo (from sometime in
the late 1980s or early 1990s), #4519 is seen westbound
on West C St. at N. Oregon St. in downtown Jacksonville,
Oregon. It is displaying a rollsign similar to the one seen here.
(Photo from the RVTD Facebook page historical collection.
Used with permission.- https://rvtd.org/ )