Photo by Steve Morgan, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
About Yakima Valley Trolleys
Few attractions let you board a working trolley on rails its system has used since 1907. Yakima Valley Trolleys runs vintage Portuguese-built streetcars seasonally over surviving Yakima Valley Transportation Company trackage, departing the Yakima Electric Railway Museum at South Third Avenue and Pine Street. Admission to the museum is free, with a fare charged only for the ride, and an all-volunteer nonprofit keeps the city-owned railway running.
At a Glance
Verified daily- Type
- Heritage railroad & tourist attraction
- Location
- WA
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ 131 Google reviews
Upcoming Events
No ticketed events are currently listed for Yakima Valley Trolleys. Many heritage operators publish schedules seasonally or run on regular open hours instead of dated events.
Check the operator’s website for current hours and special runs, or subscribe to event alerts and we’ll email you when something is scheduled.
Plan Your Visit
- First Departure
- 10:00 AM
- Parking
- Free lot
- Accessibility
- Wheelchair-accessible entrance · accessible restroom · accessible parking
- Hours
- Monday: ClosedTuesday: ClosedWednesday: ClosedThursday: ClosedFriday: ClosedSaturday: 9:45 AM – 3:00 PMSunday: 9:45 AM – 3:00 PM
Find the Depot
The Trains
The operating fleet centers on two identical streetcars built in 1928–1929 by Oporto, Portugal's streetcar company to J.G. Brill designs, whimsically renumbered 1776 (former STCP 260) and 1976 (former STCP 254). The collection also includes rolling stock from the original Yakima Valley Transportation Company: Union Pacific's 1985 donation to the city covered two of the railway's three electric locomotives — 1909 overhead-maintenance "Line car" A and 1922 General Electric steeple-cab No. 298 — while sister boxcab No. 297 went to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in California. The trolleys and tracks are owned by the City of Yakima and operated from the historic Pine Street carbarn district.
History
See full history
The rails here belong to the Yakima Valley Transportation Company, an interurban electric railroad that opened its downtown streetcar line on December 25, 1907, and from 1909 was a wholly owned Union Pacific subsidiary. Interurban branches reached Wiley City, Henrybro, and Selah in the 1910s before that service ended in 1935; the last city streetcar ran on February 1, 1947, after which the YVT survived as an electric freight feeder to the UP main line. A volunteer heritage streetcar operation began over its tracks in 1974 under the nonprofit Yakima Valley Interurban Lines, succeeded in 2001 by Yakima Valley Trolleys. When Union Pacific won abandonment and ran its final freight on November 18, 1985, the company donated the entire railroad to the City of Yakima so the heritage service could continue. The system, one of the last North American freight railroads to use trolley poles, was named to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation's Most Endangered Places list in 2025; after a brief suspension when the operating agreement lapsed at the end of 2025, service resumed in January 2026 under a new agreement running to 2030.
Around the Depot
Yakima is the county seat and Washington's eleventh-largest city, with about 97,000 residents roughly 60 miles southeast of Mount Rainier. It anchors the Yakima Valley, one of the nation's great farm regions — famous for apples and wine and the source of more than three-quarters of America's hop crop. The city takes its name from the Yakama Nation, whose reservation lies just to the south, and greater Yakima spreads into the West Valley and Terrace Heights suburbs.
Getting There & Staying Nearby
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Rent a Car
Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
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Tours & Activities Nearby
Tours
Guided tours, day trips, and things to do around the area, bookable in advance through Viator.
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