Appendix II: The Gomaco
Trolley Company
Where does one go, in the early
years of the 21st century, to buy a Heritage streetcar? In the early 20th
century, builders abounded: Jewett, Niles, Kuhlmann, Brill and many more.
Fortunately, while those great companies are gone, streetcars are still made
in America, by the Gomaco Trolley Company in Ida Grove, Iowa.
Photo: Gomaco Trolley Company
A Gomaco Trolley built for Tampa, Florida
Gomaco, a long-established builder
of heavy equipment, got into the business of manufacturing Heritage
streetcars in 1982. The Department of the Interior had decided to create an
urban park in America's first manufacturing city, Lowell, Massachusetts. It
wanted historically accurate streetcars to provide historically accurate
local transportation. Gomaco built two, open-sided streetcars for Lowell,
both replicas of Brill cars of 1902 that ran in Massachusetts. It later
built a third closed car for Lowell, a replica of a 1912 streetcar.
Since that initial order for
Lowell, Gomaco has built replica streetcars for Portland, Oregon, and Tampa,
Florida. It has also reconditioned Vintage streetcars from Melbourne,
Australia and Milan, Italy; it currently has some of the latter, built to
the famous Peter Witt design, for sale.
Gomaco has earned a deserved
reputation for historical accuracy and high quality craftsmanship. The
company says,
Our craftsmanship matches the
precision and quality of yesterday and incorporates the engineering
technology of today…The goal is to keep the trolley cars as authentic as
possible and to match the quality workmanship that went into the trolleys
of the past…Gomaco Trolley Company builds brass parts to meet all standard
trolley requirements…If you are in need of a special part, Gomaco will
make a die and build exactly what you need...Exact replicas (of
streetcars) can be built based on trolley photos.37
In other words, if you want your
city or town to have once again the same kind of streetcars that ran there
in the past, all you need is some photographs of those cars. Gomaco will
build new streetcars just like the old ones.
Gomaco is now the only commercial
source for Heritage streetcars (New Orleans builds its own), and it is a
good place to start your search. Mr. John Kallin is Gomaco’s sales manager,
and you may write to him at the Gomaco Trolley Company, 119 E. Highway 175,
P.O. Box 151, Ida Grove, Iowa, 51445 or call (712) 364-3347. Gomaco has a
web site at www.gomacotrolley.com.
A directory and Internet links for other rail car manufacturers, including
any companies that began making Heritage streetcars after publication of
this report, can be found on the American Public Transportation Association
web site at www.apta.com under the heading “Vehicles and System Technology
Web Sites.” |
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