This year the trolley will be able to travel the entire route from the historic Issaquah Depot Museum to Gilman Boulevard. Trolley season starts Saturday, May 7.
By Reporter staff
The Issaquah Valley Trolley and its riders this year will be able to run the entire line from the historic Depot Museum to Gilman Boulevard, thanks to completed work on a bridge and track last fall, according to an Issaquah History Museums press release.
The summer trolley season begins May 7. The trolley will run Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting, through the end of September. Passengers board at the Issaquah Depot Museum, 78 First Ave. NE.
Boarding passes can be purchased at the ticket window in the waiting room. The fare is $5 per person, which includes the trolley ride plus admission to the Depot Museum and the Gilman Town Hall Museum. Children aged 5 and younger and members of the Issaquah History Museums ride for free.
Trolley passengers will get a sense of what it might have been like to arrive and depart Issaquah’s Depot when the train was the primary transportation into town a century ago. Passengers will travel on the last bit of rail line in Issaquah. The route was originally laid out by the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, which came to town in 1887.
The Issaquah Valley Trolley is an all-volunteer program of the Issaquah History Museums. More help is always needed. Volunteer positions include motorman, conductor, ticket agent, platform agent and equipment maintainer. Training is provided. Those interested in participating should email trolley@issaquahhistory.org or talk to crew members on the trolley.
The trolley streetcar #519 was built in 1925 and originally ran on narrow-gauge tracks in Lisbon, Portugal. Issaquah Valley Trolley acquired it in 2003. It was rebuilt and converted to standard gauge by the GOMACO Trolley Company of Ida Grove, Iowa, in 2012.
The Issaquah Valley Trolley’s mission is to help interpret Issaquah’s history while attracting visitors to the museums and the historic downtown area. For more information go to http://www.issaquahhistory.org/issaquah-valley-trolley or to www.facebook.com/IssaquahTrolley.
