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been housed since 2018 at the Sabona Mill in West Charlotte. They could be delivered as early as a few weeks from now. Belmont Trolley Inc, covice president Nate Wells talked about the deal.

“We are still working on the final agreement,” Wells said. “Basically, the cars will be given to us as long as Belmont Trolley, Inc. is in business. We will not be able to sell them. If we go out of business or for some reason don’t want them then they go back to Charlotte.”

Chances are, once the trolleys cross the Catawba River and arrive in Belmont, they are here to stay.

According to Wells, the two Charlotte cars and the 1913 Brill (after it is restored) will eventually be housed in a shed that’s slated for construction in downtown Belmont near the Belmont Historical Society museum on E. Catawba St.. Plans are for the shed to be completed by late next year. Until then, the two Charlotte trolleys will join the 1913 Brill in the garage area at The City of Belmont’s massive CityWorks building a bit further down E. Catawba.

But a plan is also in the works to have one of the Trolleys on display at Stowe Park for a spell while the upcoming Moonlight on Main event is going on from Friday, October 22, 2021 until November 7, 2021.

“Once people have a chance to see one of the trolleys,” Wells said. “They will be excited.”

Having a “fleet” of genuine antique trolleys will make Belmont an even bigger destination.

“We’ll be the only operating historic, trolley system between Savannah and D.C.,” said Wells. “More uniquely, having three trolleys operating is pretty rare and usually you have to go to the big cities up north to find three or more cars that are restored and operational (Memphis and New Orleans have more, but their cars are part of their transit system and are publicly-funded). The few cities around the south that even have trolleys only have one at most that are operational. So three is a pretty big deal.”

About the new trolleys from Wikipedia

Number 1 The Red One

Trolley No. 1 was originally built in Philadelphia by J.G. Brill in 1907 for Athens, Greece. The trolley’s restoration was complete in 1989 by trolley restorer Bruce Thain of Guilford, Connecticut.

Number 85 The Green One

Car 85, built in 1927, was the last electric streetcar to run in Charlotte on March 14, 1938. Alexander Garfield Collie, Sr. supervised the drivers when the streetcars were retired. His son, Alexander Garfield Collie, Jr. was driving car 85 for its final run in 1938. In his personal diary, Collie Sr. wrote of the car’s final run into the barn. Directing his son, Collie, Jr. to “move over,” he took the controls of number 85 for its final run. After retirement it was sold for $100, along with all the remaining cars. Following the system closure, Charlotte would rely solely on bus transit to serve its citizens until the opening of the Blue Line in 2007.

Car 85 was subsequently sold, stripped of its motors and seats, and sold to the N.C. Air National Guard, which used it for office space at the Charlotte airport. In 1939-1940, it was again sold and converted into a diner/ concession stand at Caldwell Station, N.C., being used in this role until the early 1950s. Around late 1951, it was purchased for $125-150 by Daisy Mae Trapp Moore, a Huntersville resident, who moved it into her backyard and converted it into a mobile home to house relatives. The car was subsequently occupied by various renters. Its last occupant, construction worker Clay Thompson, lived in the former Car 85 from approximately 1972 to late 1987, when the town of Huntersville condemned the makeshift residence as it lacked indoor plumbing. Though Moore had intended to use the former streetcar as a storage shed, she sold it to the Emergency Properties Fund of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission for $1,000 on April 12, 1988.

Following the streetcar’s discovery, the Charlotte Historic Landmarks Commission led the charge in its restoration. On May 6, 1988, the streetcar was returned by road to Charlotte and stored behind the Discovery Place Museum for preservation and restoration. Original drivers’ stools from the Charlotte streetcars and a period trolley bell were located and donated to the project. By the end of 1989, the streetcar had been moved to a former city bus barn, where restoration continued. Motors, trucks, wheels and electrics were sourced from retired streetcars in Melbourne, Australia. Initially named “Trolley Car No. 2” but unofficially called “Car 85” the streetcar was conclusively identified as Car 85 when surviving

The 1913 Brill trolley has been sanded and will get a nice new paint job shortly. Photo by Alan Hodge

This is the other Charlotte Trolley. Photo provided

interior identifying numbers were revealed during restoration work in 1990. Its restoration was completed in 1991 at a cost of just over $100,000.