Astoria Riverfront Trolley History 

Old 300 was built in 1913 by the American Car Company of St. Louis, Mo., for the San Antonio Traction Company in Texas. This group of cars was numbered 300 to 313 and had composite car bodies constructed from both wood and steel. Similar cars, 314 & 325, came from American Car in 1914 and had steel bodies. In 1917 the San Antonio Traction Co. became part of The San Antonio Public Service Co.
  
Streetcar service in San Antonio officially ended April 29, 1933, though some cars remained in service occasionally through the July 4th weekend. This was due to slow delivery of new buses and a higher  than expected rate of breakdowns of buses.
  
Car 300 was presented to the Witte Museum on Sunday, April 29, 1933 with great fanfare. The car was run onto the museum grounds under its own power and parked. (Witte Museum is the precursor, and an important part now, of the San Antonio Museum Association.) Old 300 was left outside, with little maintenance, until 1948. It then received housing and a superficial restoration, including filling rotted areas with plaster. Traction motors, air compressor, and resistors were loaned out to another operation during World War II and never returned. In 1968, after the San Antonio World‚s Fair, a Transportation Museum was developed at the downtown fairground. Car 300 was again placed on outdoor, unsheltered display until 1980, by which time it had a rather terminal case of rot.
  
The initial 1980-81 restoration ultimately required the use of car body 311, which had been scrapped in 1933. It had been placed under a  metal shed and served as a woman‚s residence until 1978, when she entered a rest home. Mrs. Rhoda Billings donated her home for this restoration. 300‚s interior fittings and brass window sashes were used in this restoration. Broad-gauge New Orleans trucks and traction motors were acquired in Shreveport and „standard gauged, which means that the wheels were spaced 4‚ 8 1/2 apart to fit on standard tracks. The original 4-foot gauge trucks are held by San Antonio Car Co. to place under another San Antonio car to be restored.
  
Old 300 is still the property of the San Antonio Museum Association. However, it has been in the Pacific Northwest for more than 10 years. For about five years, Old 300 ran on the Willamette Shore Trolley line from Portland to Lake Oswego. Then for the next five years the trolley went to Gales Creek, where another restoration was begun and Old 300 ran at the Glenwood Trolley Park. The Glenwood Trolley Park was shutting down operations when  the City of Astoria was made aware of the availability of Old 300. Old 300 was leased from San Antonio for five years at $1 per year, and brought to the MERTS facility in December 1998 for restoration.
  
The most recent restoration of Old 300 was completed by an all-volunteer group of Astoria residents during the first five months of 1999. Considerable wood rot on one side below the windows was repaired. The exterior canvas roof of the trolley was re-covered, the interior bead-board ceiling installed, and the electrical systems repaired. The interior and exterior were painted. A diesel generator was acquired, and the generator trailer fabricated. More than $20,000 was raised (and spent), and nearly 3,000 man-hours were donated. As motormen and conductors, we all share a burden of responsibility not only for the safety of our passengers, but also for the continued preservation of Old 300.


Astoria Riverfront Trolley Today
 
It looks like it has always belonged on Astoria, Oregon‚s riverfront tracks though it has only been there since the end of May, 1999. When they see it, most people break into a smile. Old Number 300, the Astoria Riverfront Trolley, runs pretty full most days with locals and visitors alike. Not bad for a trolley with the loosest of schedules, run by an eclectic army of volunteers.

Old Number 300 was built in 1913 by the American Car Company of St. Louis and was in service in San Antonio until 1933. From then until now, the trolley has gone through many alternating periods of love  and neglect, the car body even serving as a lady‚s residence for a number of years.

Astoria obtained Old Number 300 on long term loan from the San Antonio Museum of Art in exchange for a promise to restore the battered streetcar, with its wood rot, peeling paint, dangling wires and general disrepair. That was accomplished over one winter with virtually no budget but with a swarm of willing volunteers. Construction company owner Jim Wilkins, who chaired the Trolley Task Force, estimates that 300 volunteers worked over 2,800 hours over a five month period to get the trolley ready.

100 of the volunteers were skilled local craftsmen and artists who refurbished the trolley‚s electrical system, woodwork, roof and paint. An example of the community‚s enthusiastic support was the pasta feed - put on by volunteers with donated foodstuffs - that raised $16,500 to pay for the trolley‚s generator.

Now, the 40 passenger trolley is clickity-clacking along the  Columbia Riverfront tracks, crossing the city from the Port of Astoria to the East End Mooring Basin and carrying plenty of passengers, more than a thousand riders on many weekends. Community volunteers go through extensive training to run the red, green and cream trolley, and then help to train more volunteers.

The trolley runs seven days a week during the summer, during the off-season, the weekday runs are eliminated and the weekend runs end at dark. During heavy rains, the antique trolley stays safe, warm and dry in its newly-constructed barn. Check the trolley website for the current schedule.

It costs a dollar to ride the trolley and as long as you stay on board you can ride as long as you want. Pay a $2 fare and you can get on and off as often as you like. The fares apply to anyone old enough to occupy a seat. Your trolley ride usually will include narration and interpretation of local history and attractions.