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Yakima Valley Trolleys - Preserving America's last intact, early 20th Century, interurban electric railroad
Thursday 29 March 2012
Important Dates:
  • March 31, 9 AM Work Party
  • March 31, 7 PM Membership Meeting
  • May 5 Tentative Cinco de Mayo Trolley
  • May 26, 10 AM 2012 Season begins

New E-Mail Updates!
Keeping in touch is important! We want our friends, members, and donors to know that their support matters in preserving Yakima's streetcars. That's why we hope to send more frequent, concise e-mail updates like this one to let you know what the organization is up to. Let us know what you think!

Fageol Twin Coach Bus Offered To YVT
Fageol Twin Coach Bus A rare bus of the type purchased in the 1940s by the Yakima Valley Transportation Company to supplement and eventually replace streetcar service has been offered free to YVT by a group of bus enthusiasts in British Columbia. The model 34S Twin Coach is the smallest version of Twin Coach, and was used by smaller cities. Yakima had several of them. A photo on page 116 of Yakima Valley Transportation Company by Ken Johnsen (2010) shows exactly what the Yakima Twin Coaches of this type looked like. In addition to a YVT emblem on the side, YVT's Twin Coaches had a Union Pacific herald on the front and back ends.

An inspection trip was made on Saturday, March 24th to see if the bus in Canada is suitable for our collection and if it can be restored. A couple of storage locations are under consideration if we decide to accept the bus. Stay tuned...

City Grant Money May Be Used In Selah Line Restoration
The City of Yakima has some unused grant money that is set aside for restoration of carbarn and infrastructure and it is investigating whether the money can be used for helping to restore the Selah line. As part of the conditions dictated by Pacific Power & Light for letting us put our wires back up on some of their poles, we are required to replace some of our poles that they use because tests showed them to be unreliable. Scott Neel, working with Bob Desgrosellier of the City Engineering office, has obtained written estimates from two electrical contractors to install the poles and attach the wires. Once this is done, we can begin restringing our wire on 6th Avenue toward Selah.

Metal Thieves Attack YVT Yard
Early this year thieves broke in to the YVT yard behind the carbarn and damaged the A-7 truck and the Trolley Van that was used in the 70s to pull the trolleys' ticket trailer to Whitney School for trolley rides. Radiators were stolen and also some of the aluminum feeder wire that was stored in the yard was cut up and stolen. A work party is scheduled for March 31 to rearrange things to make it more difficult for thieves to get into the yard. In addition, Inland Alarm is setting up a motion detector in the yard that will tie into the security system of the buildings so that intruders will set off the alarm to the police just as if they had broken into one of the buildings.

Locomotives Stored Off Site During Carbarn Restoration In 2011
YVT 298 and A return home. During the summer months of 2011, YVT steeple cab locomotive #298 and YVT Line Car #A had to be stored off site in order for the contractors to work on the carbarn's south wall and the supports for the overhead crane. Ed Neel negotiated a rent free storage of the locomotives in a secure building owned by Longview Fibre that was on the Columbia Basin Railroad line. Ed also arranged with Steve Kaytron of Central Washington Railroad to have the locomotives moved to the storage site in a special move. Location of the site was kept secret to prevent vandalism to the priceless locomotives. After the carbarn work was done, the locomotives were brought back to the YVT yard, again through the generous help of Steve and his crew at Central Washington Railroad.


© 2012 Yakima Valley Trolleys
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