Yakima trolleys -- a century old and on a roll
By ROD ANTONE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
LIZ MARTIN/Yakima Herald-Republic
Rich Rowland waits for the parade of the Yakima Valley Transportation Co.'s streetcars and locomotives to resume after stopping at Tieton Drive and Pine Street to turn around on Sunday. Rowland is a volunteer conductor for the trolley line, which celebrated its 100th anniversary with the parade.
One hundred years later, and the trolley wheels are still rolling along in the Yakima Valley.
Yakima Valley Trolley, formerly known as the Yakima Valley Transportation Co., celebrated a century of continuously running streetcars and locomotives through town Sunday. Families hopped on for a free ride and took a short trip down memory lane, even if it was just from the car barn on South Third Avenue and Pine Street to the end of the road on Eleventh Avenue.
"Whenever she sees the trolleys, she says 'Look nana, choo-choo!'" said Julie Harmia of her 4-year-old granddaughter, Theresa Duran, both of whom got on the first trolley ride of the day. "She's had a fascination of trains ever since she saw the Polar Express (movie)."
Yakima Valley Trolley motorman Scott Neel has had the same fascination since he was a boy. So much so that he has been a volunteer with the organization since 1984, just so he can wear a conductor's hat and keep the trolley rides going for kids of all ages.
"I grew up on the Sixth Avenue line seeing big locomotives every day -- one day they gave me a ride ... that kind of hooked me," he said. "The best part about this job is making kids and people smile."
Besides enjoying the view on a trolley -- or streetcar, as they are also called -- visitors gain a sense of history and pride because Yakima has managed to keep its streetcar system all these years. Author Kenneth Johnson, who wrote a book on the history of the Yakima Valley Transportation Co., classified it as the "last intact, early 20th century American, electric, interurban railroad."
"It's the only one still in its original condition: tracks, buildings, power system, locomotives and some of the streetcars," he said. "It's a real gem."
Those touring the facility can see for themselves the same stone and timber car barn and masonry substation that was built between 1910. The railroad itself was constructed between 1907 and 1913 and at one point ran about 44 miles of track heading out to locations like Selah, Wiley City, and Henrybro.
The trolleys still use the same overhead wires now that they did back then as well. But while the trolleys are just weekend amusement now, once it was an integral part of everyday life in Yakima.
"A lot of women didn't know how to drive back in those days, so they would just step on the street corner and caught the streetcar," said Yvonne Wilbur of the Yakima Valley Historical Society. "Some grandmothers would buy a ticket and put their grandkids on the trolley to ride all day ... it was like a baby-sitter."
Theresa Duran, 4, waves from a streetcar during a Sunday's parade of the Yakima Valley Transportation Co.'s streetcars and locomotives.
It was like that all across the country until the 1930s and '40s, when automobiles became more mainstream, Johnson said. And one by one, streetcar systems began disappearing.
"Nobody wanted streetcars anymore, automobiles were the flashy new thing now," Johnson said. "But in Yakima they were also still hauling freight until 1988, so that kept the system up and running. That's what set it apart."
Almost every piece of the Yakima Valley Trolley system is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And there are plans to expand it further, to have the streetcars running back to Selah again.
The expansion would mean longer five-mile rides that would last about an hour. Although it will eventually mean more work for volunteers, they don't seem to mind.
For those like Neel, it's the real reason why he and others have been volunteering to keep the tracks running all these years.
"It's fun to maintain this system, but what good is it if you can't share it with the community?" he said.
* Rod Antone can be reached at 577-7628 or rantone@yakimaherald.com
* The Yakima Valley Trolley will make runs every Saturday, Sunday and holiday from May 26 through Labor Day. Trolleys leave the car barn at South Third Avenue and Pine Street hourly from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $4 for adults and $3 for children.
