McKinney Avenue Transit Authority
A behind the scenes tour of the Maintenance & Restoration Barn, and FREE trolley ride to boot!
2009 LSR Convention Prototype Tour: The "McKinney Avenue Transit Authority"
In 1981, while removing the asphalt and concrete to restore the original brick streets on historic McKinney and Cole Avenue in Dallas, it was discovered that there were over 4800 feet of the old Dallas Railway and Terminal streetcar track still in place. That discovery sparked an idea, and after hundreds of volunteer hours were spent restoring the original 4 vintage units, on July 22, 1989, “MATA”, The McKinney Avenue Transit Authority re-introduced streetcars to the Dallas
20 years later, with funding, help from local volunteers who spent endless hours restoring numerous vintage streetcars, and miles of additional track being laid, the MATA has evolved from a tourist attraction to one of the finest transit systems of its type in the Southwest. In 2008 MATA carried over 290,000 riders.
Thursday morning, June 4, at 8:00 your charter bus will leave the Sheraton Grand Hotel for a prototype tour of The "McKinney Avenue Transit Authority".
You will be able to go behind the scenes in the MATA 3-TRACK CAR BARN where the trolley fleet is housed. Also, in the barn is a restoration area, machine shop, service pit, and wood working shop . Lots of GREAT photo-ops!
Visitors will see at least one car in restoration as well as regular maintenance being performed on other cars in the fleet. There is a lounge downstairs for off duty motormen and the MATA offices upstairs.
The active fleet includes 6 units with names like…“Matilda”, “Rosie”, “Winnie”, and #186... “The Green Dragon” (below).
Two more units are in restoration including “The Morning Star,” which will be the first air conditioned wood-bodied interurban car in America and “754”, a 19-ton, 48 foot, 54 seat streetcar built in 1926. And, three more vintage beauties are awaiting restoration.
During your visit you will be told the entire story of MATA and see first hand what all it takes, behind the scene, to keep streetcars running on a daily schedule in Dallas. Photos will be allowed.
The grand climax of this tour will be a 4.8 mile ride on one of the vintage trolleys all around the historic district of McKinney Avenue, the downtown area, and back.
That familiar “clang of the trolley bell” should paint a smile on your face for many days to come after this fun tour of the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority! ... Another great reason to come to your 2009 NMRA Lone Star Region SUPER Convention, the Trinity River Interchange".
PLEASE NOTE: There are less than 10 seats left for this tour.
