This Saturday, visitors can climb aboard a century of Tucson transit history as Old Pueblo Trolley hosts a free open house celebrating the city’s streetcars, buses and the people who kept them rolling.

Supported by Sun Tran’s 50th anniversary celebration, the Nov. 15 event will feature guided tours, food vendors, a DJ and exhibits from partner museums, including the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum and Ignite: Sign Art Museum.

The Old Pueblo Trolley museum is located northwest of Tucson Greyhound Park in an unassuming warehouse marked by a trolley car and colorful wall display. It showcases the history of public transportation in the region and receives financial support from the City of South Tucson, Sun Tran and others.

Old Pueblo Trolley volunteer and commercial truck driver Tyler Johnson is helping organize the event.

Johnson’s commercial driver’s license allows him to drive some of the buses on display, which have been refurbished and are now operational.

“Old Pueblo Trolley dates back to the 1980s,” Johnson said. “It was an idea of several different people who wanted to, in their words, bring back the trolley.”

During the early part of the 20th century, Tucson’s streetcar ran along a track from the University of Arizona through the historic Fourth Avenue business district. That ended in the 1930s, when the city decided to put the streetcar out of commission.

“The UA was about to have its 100-year anniversary, so (Old Pueblo Trolley) proposed the idea: ‘Why don’t we run heritage streetcars on Fourth Avenue?’”

Through community support and ample donations, Old Pueblo Trolley rebuilt the street rails, reinstalled the electric line and refurbished streetcars to be fully operational.

It was a success, and old-school trolleys were once again roaming the road.

That momentum led OPT to enter into a 10-year lease deal with the Southern California Railway Museum (formerly the Orange Empire Railway Museum) so they could refurbish and run a vintage railcar featured in the 1952 musical comedy "Singin’ in the Rain."

Old Pueblo Trolley’s revival proved so popular that by 2008 the city was so enthused by the idea of a functioning trolley that the City Council approved a project to modernize and expand the railcar network.

Because of differences in power demand and insurance requirements, OPT was no longer allowed to operate its historic trolleys on Fourth Avenue. In their place now runs the Sun Tran modern streetcar.

Losing access to the streetcar lines didn’t keep OPT down. Instead, the group shifted gears and opened a museum dedicated to preserving Tucson’s public transit history.

Johnson said one of the founding members, Gene Caywood, was also passionate about old buses.

“He is a historian, and he is extremely knowledgeable in every type of public transit in Tucson history,” Johnson said.

With Caywood’s help, OPT’s volunteers have refurbished and restored many different buses, some of which were discovered rusting in the desert heat. One of their oldest models is about 100 years old and is now close to being fully operational.

“Just one of our buses in our museum has probably impacted more people than an entire museum of personal automobiles,” said Johnson, adding that hundreds, if not thousands, of people rode those buses and trolleys every day as part of their daily lives.

Caywood will hold public lectures during the open house on Saturday, which will also include food vendors, parking lot displays and a DJ. Admission, tours and lectures will be free and begin at 10 a.m.

Quentin Agnello is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at qagnello@arizona.edu.

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