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Restore and integrate
Restoring our historic streetcars and returning them to service on the streets of Seattle.
Home
Restore and integrate
Restoring our historic streetcars and returning them to service on the streets of Seattle.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve an important part of our city’s history. A group of us have launched a campaign to restore two of Seattle’s historic Benson Trolleys and bring them back to the streets of Seattle to operate on the future Center City streetcar line.
These vintage green and yellow streetcars used to run on a track along Alaskan Way and part of S. Main Street in Pioneer Square. Designed to be powered by electricity, they were built in Australia for the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board between 1925 and 1930. Each car is 48 feet in length and seats 43 people. They are double ended and designed for two-person operation.
Two of the 1928 Australian streetcars began service along Elliott Bay between Pier 70 and Main Street in 1982. Three more streetcars joined the fleet between 1990 and 1993 when Metro extended the line to the Chinatown-International District. The streetcars feature Tasmanian mahogany and white ash woodwork, capturing the elegance of travel in the early 20th Century.
Story
Seattle’s connection to streetcars is runs deep through the fabric of the city and is largely the reason we have such a rich and diverse network of neighborhood business districts like Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard, Columbia City and West Seattle. Trolleys took Seattleites to and from these places from the turn of the Century through the 1930s, when they were squeezed out by the automotive industry, which favored buses.
Story
Seattle’s connection to streetcars is runs deep through the fabric of the city and is largely the reason we have such a rich and diverse network of neighborhood business districts like Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard, Columbia City and West Seattle. Trolleys took Seattleites to and from these places from the turn of the Century through the 1930s, when they were squeezed out by the automotive industry, which favored buses.
Ride
Once restored, these trolleys will connect our rich cultural and historic destinations like the Chinatown-International District, Pioneer Square, the Pike Place Market and Seattle's Museum of History and Industry.
Ride
Once restored, these trolleys will connect our rich cultural and historic destinations like the Chinatown-International District, Pioneer Square, the Pike Place Market and Seattle's Museum of History and Industry.
Fundraising
Join us in our effort to retrofit these historic vehicles and return them to service on the streets of Seattle.
Fundraising
Join us in our effort to retrofit these historic vehicles and return them to service on the streets of Seattle.