Many of the volunteers who run the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin can’t remember the last time they allowed the public to ride their trains for free, but a new track that extends the trolley service by half a mile will be cause for doing just that.
With the new track, which runs into the Blackhawk Forest Preserve, the museum’s trains will have a southern destination for the first time.
“We like to think it’s a big deal because it’s the first time we’ve had a chance to extend our line,” said Robert Bresse-Rodenkirk, who volunteers as the museum’s communications director and as a trolley driver.
On Saturday, the museum will begin running its trains on the extension after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Coleman Grove Station, near the Blackhawk Forest Preserve parking lot off Illinois Highway 31 in St. Charles Township.
After the 11 a.m. ceremony, the public can take the 10-minute round-trip ride on the extension. Free rides will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The rest of the track will not be open.
But on Sunday, the trolleys will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the entire length of the track. Fares will be $2.50 for adults, $2 for seniors and $1.50 for children.
The new trolley platform was constructed to resemble the old Coleman Grove shelter, which served residents from 1896 to 1935.
Since there were no automobiles back then, Sundays meant people hopped onto the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Co., trolleys to visit Coleman Grove to picnic, dance, fish or paddle in a boat.
“It’s restoring a part of American life,” said Don MacBean, one of the museum’s founders. “The whole idea was to connect prairie restoration with preserving history and giving people another avenue to get into the park.”
The track extension developed from a partnership between the Kane County Forest Preserve and the museum. By extending the line, the Forest Preserve provided habitat improvements along the extension that were partially paid for with a $400,000 grant from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
The museum, a not-for-profit organization, also received funding from Kane County officials who provided a $270,000 grant, and $100,000 came from an Illinois FIRST grant. The museum also relied on donations.
Construction on the extension began two years ago.
