http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/20 ... r-trolleys

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Is it crazy to imagine a trolley returning to downtown Yakima? Not if you're Ken Johnsen.

The longtime president of Yakima Valley Trolleys recently spoke about his passion for all things that run on rails and his belief the trolley system is one of Yakima's most underrated assets.

"It's so unique and so old," he said. "You just won't find anything like this in the state."

For those unfamiliar with the trolley, it is billed as the nation's last, intact turn-of-the-century interurban electric railroad.

I nominate the Mason City and Clear Lake RR (Now Iowa Traction RR) as one other of the "last, intact turn-of-the-century interurban electric railroads."

Granted service to the Clear Lake end of the line is sporadic at best, but the track and overhead is still intact.

Thanks!

The YVT is a bit unique in that it's not what you think of when you hear the tern "interurban". They didn't survive this long by hauling lots of commuters to town in large and heavy "interurban cars". Passenger service ended in the late 40's according to the timeline on the YVT website.

The line's reason for existing so long was the apple orchards and fruit packing plants along the line. Those plants were served by rail. There wasn't enough year-round volume to justify major upgrades, but on the other hand, during apple harvest season they had a lot of traffic. So the line remained, but in pretty much the original condition.

You'll find more info, and a timeline, here:
http://www.yakimavalleytrolleys.org/history.html

Of course none of that is news to Ken Johnsen, he wrote the book on the Yakima Valley Transportation Company. Literally... Published in 1979, it's out of print, but used copies are easily obtained.

http://www.railroadbookstore.com/shop/g ... lines.html