Trolley Project Rehabbing Tulsa History

The Tulsa Trolley Restoration Project is rehabbing two trolleys that haven't been used since the '50s.

Two lonely trolleys sit behind an abandoned building in Sand Springs waiting to be brought back to life.

Kent Laughlin is one of about a dozen volunteers who have their sights set on these two interurban trolleys. The goal is to restore the trolleys and display them at Tulsa Route 66 Village.

"I'm what most people classify a train nut," he says.

Laughlin is no mere train nut. He's the project manager for the trolleys' restoration and he has a vision for their future. "Hopefully they're shiny and look like the day they ran out of the plant."

Trolleys began running in Tulsa in 1907. The Tulsa Street Railway Company began the trolley service in the downtown area and an interurban service between Tulsa and Sand Springs began a few years later.

The downtown service ended in the '30s, but the interurban line ran until 1955.

In film footage from the trolleys' last day, one can see the color and character that Laughlin hopes to bring back.

"Tulsa Street Cars had a network that went out to Kendall College, the University of Tulsa, the fairgrounds, a little bit into north Tulsa, but primarily in the downtown area," Laughlin says.

Laughlin is confident there are other trolleys out there in Tulsa just waiting to be restored, it's just a matter of finding them.

"They show up sometimes by accident, somebody comes up and says, 'Well, my grandfather has got an old farm out here and there's something in the barn can you come and look at it?'" he says.

This project is expected to take about two years and Laughlin hopes that when it's done today's generation has a little more understanding of Tulsa's history.

"It's a part of what your city was in the development of where it is today. How did it get started."

Laughlin says they're always open for more volunteers. Visit the group's Facebook page.