News – Sheridan Media
Recently, Sheridan Community Land Trust moved Ol’ 115, the last remaining electric streetcar of the Sheridan Railway Line, from it location on Highby Road to the SCLT’s Big Goose Natural Area.
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, at the Hub on Smith, SCLT’s Explore History Program featured the Sheridan Railway and their plans for preserving the old car.
History Program Manager Kevin Knapp and Michael Kellam of 3-Phase Special Effects, jointly presented the program. Knapp welcomed the crowd, saying
Kellam talked about how he got interested in the project of restoring the streetcar.
Knapp said that in 1976, as a part of the National Bicentennial Celebration, the streetcar, which was found in a rancher’s pasture badly deteriorated, was restored. He said that at that time Joe Dryer, who had been one of the conductors, was still alive, and there is an interview with him about the streetcar line. He was first a track layer in 1910, then he was hired as a conductor on the line.
In the interview, Dryer said he said he lied about his age to get hired, because he was underage. Knapp read an excerpt from the interview.
Dryer was a conductor for 16 years. He said there were three interurban cars that were larger and could carry freight, and there were three city cars as well as two cars that went to Fort Mackenzie.
Knapp shared several photos, and one photo showed an advertisement for the New York Store on the outside of the car. He said many businesses advertised on the streetcars.
Kellam talked about one photo showing the car on a tressal bridge. He said that after doing some research, although they are not 100% sure, they feel the tressal went across Hume draw.
They talked about the first restoration of the old car, what shape the car was in when SCLT undertook the project. Knapp said they did not know what happened to the other cars that were used on the Sheridan line. Knapp also talked about moving the car to the Big Goose natural area, and how they plan to preserve and restore it.
The old streetcar has been in several locations, before finding a home at the Big Goose Natural area, it was for a time at the old museum of the Bighorns location, at the Sheridan Center, and most recently at the Highby Road location.
This program will be repeated on Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at the Tongue River Valley Community Center, Dayton. The event is free and open to all.
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Last modified: December 11, 2025