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The Astoria Riverfront Trolley is a heritage streetcar line that operates in Astoria, Oregon, United States, using former freight railroad tracks along or near the south bank of the Columbia River, with no overhead line. The service began operating in 1999, using a 1913-built streetcar from San Antonio, Texas. As of 2012, the service was reported as carrying 35,000 to 40,000 passengers per year and has been called a "symbol" and "icon"〔 of Astoria. The line's operation is seasonal, normally during spring break and from May through September. Volunteers from the non-profit Astoria Riverfront Trolley Association (ARTA) operate the service and maintain the streetcar and tracks, but the city of Astoria has provided some funds for certain purchases, including a new carbarn in 2001 and a contribution to the cost of purchasing the streetcar. The car was on loan from San Antonio for the first seven years, but was purchased by ARTA in August 2005. By 2004, the Trolley had become "one of Astoria's most popular features" and "a main attraction in the city of Astoria".〔 ==Pre-opening history== The idea of creating a heritage streetcar system in Astoria, as part of efforts to redevelop and revitalize the riverfront area, had first been raised in 1980, long after the closure of the city's streetcar-transit system, which operated from 1892 to 1924. An attempt by city officials to acquire a trolley car in 1986 was dropped in the face of high insurance costs.〔 When Burlington Northern abandoned its freight railroad line from Portland to Astoria in 1996, the city of Astoria purchased about of BN right-of-way and track in and around downtown Astoria for possible future use, an action known as "railbanking".〔 The remaining section of the Portland–Astoria line was sold by BN to the Portland and Western Railroad in 1997 and kept intact. After Astoria officials learned that a genuine vintage streetcar already in Oregon was not in use and was available for possible lease, they approached its owners and negotiated a five-year lease. The car was ex-San Antonio Public Service Company No. 300 and was owned by the San Antonio Museum of Art, but had been in Oregon since 1990 and had been used on the Willamette Shore Trolley line, in Portland, from 1990 through 1994. In November 1998, Astoria mayor Willis Van Dusen signed the five-year lease, which specified a rent of just $1 per year, and car 300 was moved to Astoria the following month. Since 1995, it had been stored in a closed museum near Gales Creek, Oregon, known as the Trolley Park (and formally as the Oregon Electric Railway Museum until that museum moved in 1996). Although the car had been in regular use until fewer than four years earlier, it had been stored outdoors since that time and was now in need of extensive restoration work.〔 After raising $40,000 in donations, volunteers refurbished car 300 and repainted it from the yellow paint scheme it had worn in Portland (inherited from San Antonio) to a new red-and-green livery, with "Astoria Riverfront Trolley" lettered along the side, above the windows.〔 To avoid the expense of installing trolley wire and associated support poles and electrical substations, the electric motors of the trolley are powered by a diesel generator mounted on a trailer that the car pulls when westbound and pushes when eastbound, the same arrangement that car 300 had used when running on the Willamette Shore Trolley. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Astoria Riverfront Trolley」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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