Car 55, where are you?

It’s hard to imagine that nearly one hundred years ago the Puget Sound had a successful solution to the traffic congestion plaguing its growing communities. Between the years 1910 and 1939, the Seattle-Everett Interurban railway provided residents between Martha Lake and Bitter Lake a regional mass transit system that hasn’t been duplicated since.

The most obvious evidence of the commuter trolley line is still visible in the form of the Interurban Trail, which follows the rail line’s original corridor between north King County and south Snohomish County. The wood and steel tracks may have been replaced by a thin ribbon of pavement, but the trail continues to move people from one destination to another — only with bicycle tires and athletic shoes.

Today, a memento of the Interurban era resides in Lynnwood’s recently opened Heritage Park. Interurban Car 55 is one of the six electric trolleys that made the daily trek between Seattle and Everett during the line’s 29-year existence.

Car 55 lived on for a time as the Old “55” Cafe on Highway 99 in Everett, then became a ticket office for the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. It then functioned as a makeshift storage facility for several years, where it languished until the city of Lynnwood purchased it in 1993. With the help of a federal grant, restoration began in 1996 and the exterior and shelter were completed in conjunction with the dedication of the park in May 2004.

To really appreciate Car 55, it has to be seen inside and out. That’s where Silver Lake residents Jeanne and Gary Rogers come in, Car 55’s official tour guides. The couple lead visitors around and through the trolley’s exterior and interior, providing historical information and anecdotes about Car 55 and the Interurban route. Their expertise in trolley trivia is the result of a special connection: Jeanne is the daughter of the late Walt Shannon, the last of the Interurban motormen. Prior to his death in 2003, Shannon served as a key consultant in the trolley’s restoration.

Be sure to pick up a Walking Tour Guide for a self-guided tour of the rest of the park, available at the adjacent Visitor’s Information Center in the historic Wickers building, where the Transportation Museum features the exhibit “Making Tracks: Linking Seattle to Everett by the Interurban Railway.” Heritage Park’s other historic landmarks include the Alderwood Manor Demonstration Farm cottage, which now houses the Alderwood Manor Heritage Association’s resource library, and the Humble House, now home to the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society’s genealogy research library.