Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Fort Smith

Fort Smith, Arkansas:
Fort Smith Trolley Museum

Description

The Fort Smith Trolley Museum operates a restored single-truck Birney safety car on about 0.6 mile (1.0 km) of track. The car, #224, was built in 1926 by the American Car Company for the Fort Smith Light & Traction Company, and ran in Fort Smith until the end of streetcar service there in 1933. In 1979, the Fort Smith Streetcar Restoration Association bought #224's body (which had spent part of the intervening period as the "Streetcar Cafe" in Ashdown, Arkansas) and began to restore it. Wheels, motors and controls came from another Birney car that had run in Kansas City.

Public operation began in 1991, running between the museum's car barn and what is now the Fort Smith Museum of History, using about 0.2 mile (0.3 km) of an abandoned freight railroad spur track. The south end of the line was extended in 1993 to the entrance of the Fort Smith National Cemetery, and in 2005 across the street to the Fort Smith Convention Center. The north end was extended in 1997 one block to Garrison Avenue (the main street of downtown Fort Smith), and in 2002-3 along the sidewalk on the south side of Garrison Avenue to its current terminal at Ross Pendergraft Park.

Other Sites

Pictures

[picture] #224 crosses Rogers Avenue, with the Fort Smith National Historic Site in the background (June 2006).

[picture] #224 has just crossed Garland Avenue near the carbarn (June 2006).

[picture] Looking out the window of #224, we get a glimpse of a mural depicting Fort Smith trolleys, painted on the wall of a building next to the carbarn by local artist John Bell, Jr. No, I'm not related to him, as far as I know! (June 2006)

[picture] #224 waits next to the Fort Smith Museum of History, where most visitors buy ride tokens and board the car. (June 2006)

[picture] A couple of passengers leave #224 at the Museum of History, at the end of a trip. (June 2006)

[picture] The original section of the line is an abandoned freight railroad spur that runs down the middle of the blocks between 3rd and 4th Streets, with buildings on either side. (June 2006)

[picture] At the trolley museum, the line crosses a railroad spur which holds the museum's collection of railroad cars. #224 stops right on the crossing between two cars, so passengers can get off and explore the collection briefly. (June 2006)

This page was last updated on 11 May 2007, and reviewed on 28 November 2007.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Fort Smith

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