Musings of a Casual Drifter: We're Jolly on the Trolley

Sunday is a day of rest and relaxation for us. We did give our legs a needed rest and made the decision to take a ride on the Ft. Collins Trolley. It runs only from May through September on weekends and National Holidays. So, if you want to ride it, you definitely must plan ahead. The first trip was scheduled for noon, and we got there at 11:45, just in time to see it pull away, fully loaded.

This is one of the best values around! As Seniors, we got 50% off the regular fare, a whole $1.00. The ride left from City Park and went to downtown Ft. Collins, a half hour round trip.

We rode on the No. 25 Trolley, a completely restored Birney. Ft. Collins now has two Birneys. The tracks at this point were installed way back in 1907. Number 25 was brought in from Cheyenne and put into service in 1924.

We traded our three dollars in for 3 tokens to be used on the trolley.

The children that entered were a bit surprised at having to put coins into the glass container. It was watched over by the conductor and they heard it clunk as the tokens went it.

Doris was able to snatch a seat at the very front of the trolley. Score!

Before leaving the conductor and his assistant gave specific instructions to the riders. No standing (even though they did have handle straps hanging from the ceiling) and no hands or any other part of your body out the window.

The trolley had it's own traffic light, which is quite different from the regular stoplight. Once the trolley is okay to enter the intersection, the conductor rings the bell.

Once we got to the end, most of the passengers disembarked and the rest of us turned the seats around to face the other direction. This enabled the passengers to always face forward.

Don turned his seat around and sat down, leaving the conductor's seat behind him. It had turned into the back of the trolley. Out his window you can barely see St. Joseph Catholic church. The joke was that people in the 1900's took the trolley after church, instituting the first "Mass" transit system! 😅

I got a nice picture of Doris standing in front after we got back to City Park. Quite an interesting ride even though it was very slow and bumpy at times. The trolleys can be rented by individuals or groups for special occasions. I thought it would be a fun idea for a children's birthday party as long as you had children that listened and were well behaved.

After that "strenuous" bout of exercise, it was time to head to Walrus Ice Cream. We did that at least 15 or so years ago with our grandchildren. The place is still thriving and selling wonderful homemade ice cream and gelato.