Welcome to the Fort Smith Trolley Museum
Trolley Schedule
Tuesday - Friday: 12pm till 5pm
Saturday: 10am till 5pm
Sunday: 1pm till 5pm
Museum Schedule
Saturday: 10am till 5pm
Tuesday - Friday: 12pm till 5pm
Saturday: 10am till 5pm
Sunday: 1pm till 5pm
Saturday: 10am till 5pm
For a while now the Trolley Museum has worked on creating a new "sign" for our property that would let people know where the museum is in Fort Smith. One idea lead to another and eventually the idea to build a sign holder from a novelty miniature streetcar gained traction and took to the rails, thus the Jolley Trolley was created. We had made a news article earlier this year that outlined how the Jolley Trolley came to be built which can be read here. This article is to serve as a follow up and to show the latest progress that has been made to it.
Our volunteers decided that Jolley Trolley needed a functioning headlight that would accommodate it. The solution that they came up with was to use a battery operated LED light that can be used for various events when the time called for it. Within the past couple of weeks, we have added signs to the roof that say "Fort Smith Trolley Museum". This way you know you are in the correct area! The final decision to make was were to put Jolley Trolley for everyone to see.
Recently, the museum was able to acquire land that is right next to the Fort Smith National Park. What we discovered is that on the new property we found an original Frisco siding track that was used in the past to service nearby businesses up and down Garland Street. When the line went inactive the city at the time just covered it with either dirt or paved road on top of it, but the track remained in the ground. A few of our volunteers discovered the 105+ year old track earlier this year and un-earthed a small section just off 3rd Street and Garland. It was then decided that this would be the home for the Jolley Trolley!
To complete this location we are in the process of adding an original Frisco switch stand, which will work out well considering this is an old Frisco line. Everyone is welcome to come up and view the Jolley Trolley, take a seat inside and take as many pictures as you would like. This is where the Jolley Trolley will normally be, but you might see it in parades or special functions around the town, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!
Since most of the parades in the area like to take place in the evenings, we are on the lookout for a small 110v portable generator that can be used for Jolley Trolley while being pulled in the parade to power up Christmas lights and other devices. If you have a generator or funds you would like to donate to the museum for this purpose, please feel free to email us at info@fstm.org or call Henry Moore at 479-650-0103 and we will respond!
Special thanks to Chris Spain, Matt Lawson, Henry Moore, Daniel Moore and David Kerr for all the work that went into building the Jolley Trolley. Volunteers did all this!
Click Here to see the photo album for the Jolley Trolley!