Mr. Rodgers trolley

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Peter, Thanks, as a kid I always thought that was the best part of the show.

[Rene Schweitzer]

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.

[guilfordrr]

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]

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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 obeyed this law and didn't tamper with the program elements that make the show work so well. But whenever I looked at that fascinating HO scale model of the Neighborhood with all its houses and streets and trees, I just knew it needed something.

It took me about a month to figure it out. One day I took a good, long look at the big trolley that Fred uses in his Television House when he starts the journey to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. This one-of-a-kind, near-G-scale trolley was made by Bill Ferguson in Toronto, Canada, in 1967. Fred Rogers uses the trolley as a transitional device that allows the children to go from "real" (meaning Fred's house) to "Make Believe" (a fantasy-like world peopled with hand puppets and a polka-dot pathway).

The children (and many adults too) love this big, wooden red trolley and often write to us with all sorts of questions such as: "Why aren't there any people on the trolley?" Answer: You imagine yourself to be on board. "Where can I get a trolley like that?" Answer: "It's the only one we have. But you could make a 'pretend' trolley out of a milk carton."



Host Fred Rogers with King Friday, Sara Saturday, and Neighborhood Trolley.


And that's when the light went on over my head! The missing ingredient in the HO neighborhood with all the houses and trees was an HO scale trolley. You see, I could make my own pretend trolley too. So, without telling a soul, I contacted Pittsburgh model railroader Tom Vitolo, and over a period of 2 weeks we used our model railroading skills in a television studio.

A motor tool with a router attachment made short work of the cross street where we planned to lay the track. Using an NMRA standards gauge helped us keep the alignment correct. Even though it was only 48" from one side of the town to the other, it had to look right or the trolley wouldn't last the ride. After the grooves were cut, we ran a thin bead of hot glue and immediately followed it with Code 100 nickle silver rail.

As we stared at our work, the urge came upon us to get some Woodland Scenics ground foam of various colors and beef up the painted-on grass as well. That led to small piles of soil puddled down with white glue, which led to ground foam being dusted over the trees ... you know how scenery can get to you.

While I was lost in the greenery, Tom took my Bachmann trolley (a gift from my brother, Pat) and did a major kitbashing job that produced a very close replica of the G scale trolley. We then devised a simple, fishline mechanism that a television crewmember could operate. We had thought about using a SPUD unit, but the scale speed had to be very slow at times - a scale 1 mph. So, fishline was the answer and, after a few (A LOT actually) trial runs, we had it sorted out.

But all the while I was doing this (having a ball, I might add), I was nervous about the whole thing. It was like we were adding a new face on Mt. Rushmore without asking anybody. But deep down I knew if I ever tried to explain what I was doing people would think we were crazy. Grown men, playing with trains? Well, yes, we were grown and, yes, we were playing, but the result would be great. They would have to see it to believe it. And the only way that could happen was to DO IT.

Despite the bravado, when the studio day approached I was very nervous. What if this addition was simply too much? "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" rang in my ears. And then November 16, 1981, came and Studio A at WQED was filled with a crowd of very curious crew people and Mister Rogers himself. I announced very casually, "Here's a little something I'd like to show you."

The camera took up its position. Music Director John Costa and his trio played the familiar opening music, the camera widened out to a cover shot, and I pushed the stick that pulled the fishline that made the little red trolley creep along at a scale 5 mph. I held my breath, afraid to see the reaction on their faces, but wanting to as well. I looked up and saw Fred Rogers' eyes twinkle in surprise at seeing an HO scale version of Trolley go trundling along the pavement. He smiled. So did everybody else.

Trolley II was born.

If you've not watched the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood program, that's understandable. Our audience is mainly young children. But if the chance ever arises, why not tune it in to see Trolley I and now, Trolley II? Who knows, you might even keep watching past the opening credits. A lot of grownups do. Maybe that's because of something that Fred says at the end of every program: "There's nobody else in the world exactly like you. And people can like you just the way you are."

Now there's a thought that applies to us all - no matter what our "scale."


Related Stories
· Intro To Trains: End of the line for Mister Rogers' trolley?










09/18/2001