I have heard of an organization known as the Oklahoma Trolley Association, but know very little about them. Does anyone know where they are based? How much equipment they have? What this equipment is? Who I could contact to get more information?

Frank, you sure a asking a lot of questions here... and sparking some interesting discussions. This is what I have gathered about Oklahoma:
There is a group with a Sapulpa Birney, I think it is number 375, at
http://www.sapulpatrolley.org/
I believe a Sand Springs interurban and two trolleys from near the Tulsa airport were moved to the Sand Springs power house as part of the Sunbelt NRHS collection:
http://www.sunbeltrailroad.com/
There is a Union Electric box motor, an express car, and a third completely decayed car at the Peerless Stone quarry in Lenapah OK. The owner apparently is not interested in parting with them. These may be the same cars claimed by the nearby Kansas museum with a small collection (including a LARy car) and a modest name, The Mid-West Railroaders' Hall of Fame and Museum:
http://trainweb.com/wrrhof/unionel.html

Is this group related to the Birney streetcar on display in Sepulpa OK?

Trolley Museum of New York
n2xjk@ulster.net

I forgot to mention that I think an electric locomotive from Tulsa or Oklahoma City exists somewhere, but I can't confirm that.

When I was secretary of the Association of Railway Museums I recall receiving an inquiry from such a group. As I recall, they had a little folded sheet giving directions to their site and I beleive they had a car body. As I recall, I sent them information on ARM, but got no response.

I still have my database of non-member musuems and I found them with a post office box in McAlester, Oklahoma.

Brian Norden

bnorden@gateway.net

> I still have my database of non-member
> musuems and I found them with a post office
> box in McAlester, Oklahoma.

> Brian Norden

That sounds right. I had heard of a group in McAlester, OK that had a carbody from the Arkansas Valley Interurban and some other carbody. I don't know anything else about them.

However, I contacted the groups that Mr. Anderson suggested and they have been extremely kind, informative, and cooperative.

Frank Hicks

> Is this group related to the Birney
> streetcar on display in Sepulpa OK?

No. As far as I can tell, anyway. The Sapulpa Trolley organization is known as Sapulpa Trolley & Rail (STAR), and they own a Tulsa single-truck Birney streetcar that is stored under cover on the grounds of the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway. They are working towards getting it operational. The Oklahoma Trolley Association, on the other hand, seems to be one of those organizations that vanish into thin air. As of several years ago they seem to have been based in McAlester, OK, but I know of no one who has recently talked with them. They seem to have recessed into the catacombs of legend.

> That sounds right. I had heard of a group in
> McAlester, OK that had a carbody from the
> Arkansas Valley Interurban and some other
> carbody. I don't know anything else about
> them.

> However, I contacted the groups that Mr.
> Anderson suggested and they have been
> extremely kind, informative, and
> cooperative.

> Frank Hicks

I believe it is the group in McAlester. They have several cars and a Union Pacific Caboose. At the site, there is a resturant that uses one of the trailer cars that was used on the Texas Electric line out of Dallas, as a dinning area. All the cars are in poor shape around the parking lot. They are located about four blocks north of the downtown area and three blocks east of the Union Pacific Main.

The cars in Sand Springs belong to the Sand Springs Historical Society. Two of them are have been sold to the State Historical Society so they can make one care for use in the new museum the state is building by the capital for a childrens educational area. Two Sand Springs Railway Trolley still exist, one at the Illinois Railway Museum and the other I believe in Minnesota or Kentucky I believe.

The car in Sapulpa has no under carriage, but they have been raising money to build one and they have the traction motors from a foreign trolley they are going to use. They have about a four block lenght of track along some industrial siding they have talked about using.
Drake Rice, Oklahoma Railway Museum, OKC.

drakerr@telepath.com

> The cars in Sand Springs belong to the Sand
> Springs Historical Society. Two of them are
> have been sold to the State Historical
> Society so they can make one care for use in
> the new museum the state is building by the
> capital for a childrens educational area.
> Two Sand Springs Railway Trolley still
> exist, one at the Illinois Railway Museum
> and the other I believe in Minnesota or
> Kentucky I believe.

Thanks for the information. I work at the Illinois Railway Museum, and I can give you a little info on the Sand Springs car we have. It is #68, one of a 1918 order from a Cincinnati line (all cars were later sold to SS). This series of car is arguably the first example of the lightweight interurban. #68 is mostly complete, and it is currently being worked on in our restoration barn. Just within the past month, its two controllers have been disassembled, overhauled, and put back in place.

> ... Oklahoma Trolley Association ...

Frank,

I've never heard of them before you asked. (I haven't heard of many of the great places mentioned on this site either before I read here about them, so no surprise.) As the responses here looked a bit thin to me, I took to the web and searched for pages containing all of "Oklahoma", "Trolley", "Association", and "MacAlester", and below is what I found at Yahoo, Altavista, and Northern Light. We're looking at about half a dozen cars and a caboose for this organization.

Cheers, Jochen

=== From the pages of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department at
http://www.travelok.com/todo/greatdrive ... To%20Glory

6. McAlester
South of Lake Eufaula is McAlester, where the world's largest prison rodeo is held annually. Coal mining created the town's economic prosperity early on, and local museums preserve that history.

[snip]
More museums include

[snip]
the Oklahoma Trolley Association Museum.

=== According to
http://www.ohwy.com/ok/o/oktrolmu.htm

Oklahoma Trolley Museum

Small display of trolley cars, 1907-1933, from Mcalester's street car line. restoration of the cars is underway.

By appointment. Closed holidays. Group tours by arrangement; motorcaoch parking. Donations welcome.

PO Box 145
21 E Monroe
Mcalester OK 74501

=== Equipment located at/around "Trolley's Restaurant" in McAlester is listed at
http://ok.railfan.net/okptm.html

=== A UP caboose is identified, as of 7 May 1998 (or earlier), as resident in McAlester at
http://www.logantele.com/~jcampbel/up-a.htm
as

25547 McAlester OK Class CA-8, Trolley Museum


JochenTrost@cs.com