"Trolleys, Tales & Talk" Dec. 29, 2009

Muscatine Tours Podcast

Dan Clark called this show "Isn't it time for a REAL trolley in Muscatine (again)?" We had 'em from the 1880s through the 1920s, unless you count the electric interurban which ran through 1938. What would it take, he asks, to run a real streetcar in Muscatine, maybe between historic Downtown/Riverfront and Southend sports complex? He says the USA's premier heritage-trolley restorer and replica-maker is Gomaco Trolley Co. of Ida Grove, Iowa (http://www.gomacotrolley.com), but their only car in Iowa is at Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant (http://www.oldthreshers.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.midwestElectricRailway). He reads a description of Muscatine's eight streetcars ordered in 1913 and proposes commissioning Gomaco to construct a replica. He also reads from and comments on Facebook discussion with skeptics. He calls this show Part 2 of his "rant" from September 2008 (http://muscatinetours.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=383570).