LYNNWOOD — Six-year-old Dashiel loves trains.
His Dad, Philip Morley, decided a good way for him to learn more about rail transportation was to take him and his little sister, Tuula, 5, from their Edmonds home for a look-see of the historic Trolley Car 55 at Lynnwood’s Heritage Park.
Not only did Morley see there is quite a collection of information and photos about the trolley in the historic Wicker’s building, now housing the county’s tourism information center, but he also found Jeanne Rogers, the only child of the last Interurban motorman, Walter Shannon, in the trolley giving official guided and entertaining tours with her husband Gary Rogers.
Dashiel said his favorite part of the tour was to see all the different pictures of the trolley while it was being renovated.
Tuula said her favorite part was “when someone lifted me up to ring the bell.”
That’s the great thing about the tour, Rogers said, there’s something for everyone and usually that something for the smaller folks is ringing the trolley bell. For the older tourists, it’s usually the history that interests them.
Interurban Trolley Car 55 is the centerpiece of Heritage Park.
Car 55 is one of six Interurban electric rail cars that provided commuter service from Alderwood Manor to Seattle and Everett from 1910 to 1939, Rogers said. The Interurban was key to the development of Alderwood Manor. According to local historians, “City folks traveled by trolley, encouraged by the Demonstration Farm here to relocate to the country, breathe the uncontaminated fresh air, learn how to raise poultry for profit and have a fine garden.”
After the demise of the Interurban in 1939, Car 55 was retired, serving as a hamburger stand for several years, and later as a ticket office for the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad, Rogers said.
Before it retired it was known as “the Cadillac of its time,” she said.
Lynnwood purchased the dilapidated trolley in 1996 for $600, and began its restoration with a federal grant. The Car 55 Project is currently raising funds to acquire various interior and exterior furnishings to complete the trolley’s restoration.
Before Shannon died at 93 years old, a few months before the grand opening of Heritage Park, he knew all about and was part of the renovation process of the trolley and its final resting place at Heritage Park – and was excited for it, Rogers said.
While Shannon was the last motorman before the car was retired, he worked at the Interurban in some way from 1926 to 1939, she said.
Shannon was a big part of the trolley’s renovation process before he died.
Because there were no photos of the interior during that time, Shannon had to use his memory to tell the renovators just as it looked in the time so they could make it as close to identical, the Rogers said.
Shannon was even able to be part of the trolley’s last trip.
One morning a few years ago, the Rogers got him up and out at 5 a.m. so he could watch professionals tow the trolley across the city of Lynnwood from it’s storage area to Heritage Park.
Rogers said her father told her while driving right behind the trolley, “I’d never thought I’d ever see the Interurban going through Lynnwood again.” She added, “and he didn’t care that it was just the (trolley) body.”
At the dedication ceremony for the park on May 14, 2004, which included the trolley and Wicker’s building renovation among other historical pieces, Rogers had said, “It’s kind of karma they’re all together now.”
Jeanne and her husband Gary Rogers have committed to volunteering their time for the tours for a few good reasons.
The couple said the tours are time well spent for them because they have a history together in the rail business, their paths first crossed through the old Wicker’s building when it was a general store, and, most importantly, they said they do it because “It’s a labor of love – it’s to honor my Dad,” Jeanne Rogers said.
As children, the two rode their horses at different times to the Wicker’s store and rode the trolley from Everett to Seattle.
While they knew of each other, they didn’t know each other.
The two met in person later in life as they both worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad. But it wasn’t until 1986, when they “fell over each other” that they fell in love and were married.
“I brought home a ‘rail’ and my Dad approved,” said Rogers about Gary. “My Dad was glad I finally brought home someone who knew the difference between traction motors and locomotives – my Dad gave us his blessing.”
And the rest was history.
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