On a recent cold Saturday morning in downtown Dayton, the Greater Dayton RTA’s historic Christmas trolley pulled up to make its final run of the day. The trolley has been operating for a few hours on Mondays and Saturdays since its debut appearance in the Dayton Children’s Parade in November.
The bus has a storied history that’s well known to local trolley enthusiast Tom Morrow, who explained how Bus 559 was resurrected several times in its 76-year history.
“It's a 1948 Marmon Harrington, TCE 48, built in Indianapolis, Indiana,” he said. “It originally ran in Columbus from 1948 to 1965. Columbus got out of the trolley bus business in June of 1965. Put this bus into a junkyard and Dayton resurrected, the Dayton City Transit came and resurrected it."
At the time, Morrow said Dayton was looking to be able to get a few more buses, and it was well known that Columbus buses were taken care of.
“So [Dayton] knew if they got those buses, they would be able to get a lot more life out of them,” he said.
That Bus 559 was rebuilt in 1970 by Dayton’s City Transit office, then transferred to the the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority when it was created in 1972.
Then, from 1975 to 1976 the RTA ran what Morrow calls “seasonal buses.”
That year, Bus 559 ran as a “fall bus” and in 1977 it was made into the Christmas trolley.
“The outer design of the bus was done by Blommell Sign Company, which is a fallen flag name here in Dayton” he said. "Blummell did the outer of the bus and this is the paint job from 1977.”
The Dayton RTA’s Christmas trolley ran from 1977 to 1988. Then, in 1988, RTA decided to eliminate their historic fleet and Bus 559 was donated to San Francisco Municipal Railway as part of their historic vehicle fleet. It was used as a holiday bus in San Francisco for a short time before — once again —being sidelined.
The 76-year-old piece of rolling history made the 2,300-mile journey back to Dayton in 2021 after RTA CEO Bob Ruzinsky “thought it was time to bring the trolley back home to Dayton."
Restoration of the trolley was soon underway, but with some challenges. Ryan Lovelace was one of the RTA mechanics who met those challenges head on.
“From obtaining parts that we needed up until just finding rusty bolts… and this thing was very dirty so very heavy cleaning, just all kinds of challenges we met throughout the whole summer and fall," Lovelace said. "We actually finished, I think it was about the middle of November, then we started adding on the finishing touches, like the lights and maybe tiny little things here and there.”
Lovelace said the payoff for their hard work can be seen in the faces of trolley riders stepping onto the bus and stepping back in time.
“It was left in the back 40 there in San Francisco, kind of just forgotten about, and just for it to come home to Dayton, like where it belongs, it means a lot to me just to bring everybody together back again and seeing it and making them happy," he said. "It's definitely going to be a highlight of my career being a part of this bus.”
Michael Baldwin is the other mechanic responsible for bringing bus 559 back to life. For him, the trolley’s not just a part of the city’s past, but also his own. He remembers his mother taking him on the Christmas trolley as a boy.
"We lived over on Huffman Avenue and it would come down the street and we rode out to, at the time it was the VA," he said."It went out Home Avenue and then did a turn around out at the VA and then back over to east Dayton on Huffman Ave. It just kind of gives me a sense of pride and growing up here in Dayton.”
The challenges with Bus 559 didn’t end with its restoration. Lovelace, who has been driving the trolley for most of its December outings, carefully moves the trolley out into traffic. It’s a bit tricky since the bus has no turn indicators — only outside flags that will drop to tell others the bus will be turning. So Lovelace has to watch what’s in front of him, but also keep his eyes on the sides and the back of the bus.
While looping around downtown Dayton, the trolley makes a big impression on the pedestrians outside who point excitedly at the bus as it passes.
And inside there’s more excitement for young riders. At the back of the trolley, sitting comfortably in a chair next to a fireplace and Christmas tree, a waving and smiling Santa Claus.
John Kern has been moonlighting as Santa in Dayton for years. He said the trolley tours over the last few weeks have been just as special to him.
“You get lots of joy, happiness, peace, love," he said. "They love to ride this bus and it brings back memories for me. You can see the twinkle in their eyes. So it's a very nice piece of history that we’re riding on here.”
The Dayton RTA Christmas Trolley is a resurrection story all on its own. Bus 559 has served riders in three U.S. cities in its 76 year history and holds a special place in the memories of many Daytonians.
There are just two more chances to ride the trolley this season. It rolls again Saturday Dec. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon, and Monday Dec. 23 from 4 to 6 p.m., with rides leaving Wright Stop Plaza every 15 minutes.
