The El Reno Heritage Express is a

heritage streetcar Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...

line in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the ...

. It opened in 2001 as the only operating streetcar in the state (since joined by the Oklahoma City Streetcar). A single J.G. Brill Strafford Car runs a excursion service from the

Canadian County Canadian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,405, making it the fifth most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is El Reno. The county is named for the Canadian Ri ...

Historical Museum in the former El Reno

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

Depot to a

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

downtown via a single-track line embedded in the road surface of Watts Street and Bickford Avenue.

History

From 1911 to 1947, El Reno had trolley service. It was a terminal of the El Reno Interurban Railway (later the

Oklahoma Railway Company The Oklahoma Railway Company (ORy) operated interurban lines to El Reno, Guthrie, and Norman, and several streetcar lines in Oklahoma City, and the surrounding area from 1904 to 1947. Freight traffic was also handled on the interurban lines ...

), which ran to Oklahoma City. That service ceased after World War II. The affordability of private automobiles reduced passenger traffic for mass transit. The modern trolley line was built as part of a multi-purpose project by the city to rehabilitate the downtown's drainage system, which had a history of failing and causing flooding issues for nearby businesses. It was part of a series of projects that the city began in 1988 to revitalize downtown through the Main Street America program, a subsidiary of the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

. Unable to fund this entire construction project, the city partnered with the state to secure an

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...

(ISTEA) grant to rebuild downtown streets and sewers. It was conditioned on the city agreeing also to install, at the same time, a rail-based transit system that it would financially support and maintain. The city of El Reno was required to pay 20% of the $1.7 million project cost ($ adjusted for inflation). To begin service, the city acquired a disused 1924 J.G. Brill Strafford Car from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, for $215,000 ($ adjusted for inflation), to be restored and converted to

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

power in Iowa for this new system. The city approached the Canadian County Historical Society, which had occupied the former rail depot, to operate the new system, and it quickly accepted. The trolley runs several times a day from the former El Reno

Depot (now used by the historical society) to a

downtown. It travels via a single-track line that is embedded in the road surface of Watts Street and Bickford Avenue, which has a shopping district. Conductors give tours of what visitors are seeing as they pass through downtown. Service began on August 25, 2001, after a dedication ceremony the previous day. It was the only trolley line then operating in the state, but Oklahoma City has now also instituted a new line.

Service

, the line was operating Wednesday through Sunday, making several runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a later start on Sunday.

References

External links

City of El Reno Heritage Express
{{USLightRail Heritage streetcar systems Heritage railroads in Oklahoma Streetcars in Oklahoma Railway lines opened in 2001 Town tramway systems by city 2001 establishments in Oklahoma Tourist attractions in Canadian County, Oklahoma Transportation in Canadian County, Oklahoma J. G. Brill Company

History

Service

See also

References

External links