I was reading a post somewhere in the forums about someone who was into
trolleys, I got to thinking of how I loved Mr. Roger’s trolley that took you to the land of make believe when I was a kid. What scale was it? It had to be large scale of some kind. Just a crazy thought.
Matt,
You pose an interesting question! I do agree, it is a crazy thought. Crazy enough for me to search out the Mr. Rogers website and ask them to report the specifications regarding the trolley. Hopefully, they will play along. I will post whatever I discover.
Just remember, even though your crazy, I like you just the way you are!!!
Respectfully,
Peter
Peter, Thanks, as a kid I always thought that was the best part of the show.
It’s funny this question came up. I was in a fellow Classic Toy Train staffer’s office, and he had a photocopy of a January 1988 article about Mr. Roger’s trolley. The “original” trolley (the one he operated) was handbuilt from wood at approximately large scale size. Trolley II was HO scale. This is the one you’d see in the closing credits of the show running through the model city.
If you want to read the 1988 article yourself, (plus a tribute article entitled “End of the Line for Mister Roger’s Trolley?”) go to “Trains for the Young” at trains.com’s home page. Sorry I can’t put a REAL link…you can’t cut-and-paste on this iMac clunker![:D]
I am saddened by the fact the Mr. Roger’s is gone. I too admit the Trolley was the best part of the show for me when I was young.
Guilfordrr, thanks for the link. I will sleep easier knowing all the info[:D]
Mr. Rogers’ trolley
Here’s the scoop guilford turned us onto. Very interesting, Really makes me appreciate the show more.
It was a beautiful day when Trolley II came to the neighborhood
by Paul Lally
Television’s beloved “Mister Rogers” died on Thursday, February 27, 2003 after a brief bout with stomach cancer. To commemorate how trains played a roll on his popular children’s program, we’re reprinting this article that first appear in the January 1988 issue of Model Railroader magazine.
Trolley II is pulled along the street by a simple fishline mechanism. After Paul Lalley and Tom Vitolo added the trolley they dressed up the neighborhood with ground foam.
Every day this small, red trolley creeps exactly 29" across what must be one of the smallest traction layouts in America. It’s a very short run.
But more than 10 million children and adults watch it happen on public television stations throughout the country. That’s because this particular trolley belongs to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, one of the longest-running and most-successful children’s programs on television today.
As the television director for the program and a 15-year fan of model railroading, I was able to bring my love for trains into the “Neighborhood” by adding a small HO scale trolley to the model town that viewers see at the open and close of every show.
But it wasn’t easy.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood had been on the air 24 years and doing quite well without me before I came to Pittsburgh, Pa., (where it’s produced) in 1981 to work with Fred Rogers. Soon after I arrived, I learned two things: one, Fred Rogers is a wonderfully kind and genuine man who cares very much about children’s needs. Two, the program was (and is) very successful - in other words, “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.”
I ob