559 - Fort Lincoln Trolley Mandan to Fort Rice

Since 1989, the Fort Lincoln Trolley has been chugging along the Heart River south of Mandan, North Dakota. Operating on the remaining five miles of the former Northern Pacific 127-mile Mandan-Mott branch line, the Fort Lincoln Trolley connects Mandan, North Dakota with Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, the starting point for Lt. Col. George Custer’s expedition that ended with the Battle of Little BigHorn.

The Fort Lincoln Trolley was founded by brothers Jim and John Beck after they reclaimed the body of a single truck streetcar, #102, which operated in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The car had been sold to Bismarck, North Dakota, likely in the 1920s, where it ran until it was abandoned in 1931. Fortunately, this was not the end of the story for streetcar #102. Its’ body served as a diner in Mandan until 1946. Forty-two years later, in 1988, the Beck Brothers found the streetcar, which was being used as a dog kennel. The restoration began soon after.

Breathing new life into the street car surely required some ingenuity, resourcefulness, and dedication. The Beck brothers had to replace the floor and sills. And, while one of every kind of brass fixture survived, replicas were cast as needed. Additionally, they built simple, non-reversible wood seats. A motorless Taylor truck, found on the Great Western railroad in Colorado, was retrofitted with the car and then powered by an underfloor gasoline engine chain driven to one axle. In 1991, daily ten-mile round trips began between Mandan and the Fort.

The Fort Lincoln Trolley departs at a tiny depot on the southeast edge of Mandan. Shortly after leaving the depot, the trolley crosses over the Heart River on a truss bridge. The ride, in typical open air fashion, allows patrons to feel the breeze and be surrounded by the simple beauty of the Heart River as it flows toward the Missouri River before arriving at Fort Lincoln State Park.

The past few years have presented some challenges for the Fort Lincoln Trolley, and streetcar #102 has been largely replaced by a replica of a double-trucked streetcar. Regardless, the Fort Lincoln Trolley has had a storied life and is a significant attraction for both the city of Mandan and Fort Lincoln State Park.