A Streetcar Named 'Why Bother'

Until we had to actually consider it we had absolutely no opinion of the waterfront trolley. We just watched it going by day after day from the loading dock behind our office. Generally empty. Everytime it clang-clanged its way through the intersection across the street we'd glance up and mutter curses at whichever driver thought they could beat it through. Just once did we see it hit someone. It was a minivan and we only got to personally witness the aftermath. What do you call it when something on rails does very little damage in a collision? If it were two cars you would have called it a fender bender.

When the battles over its continued existence were touched off by the planned sculpture park where the trolley's maintenance shed currently stands our first impulse was to support the train. It's historical, we thought, and we generally bemoan the lack of anything old in Seattle. Plus, we have a soft spot for rail of any kind. If you were to propose a grade level rail system that wiped out thousands of acres of city park land and carried passengers in single-occupancy cars that burned 200 gallons of gasoline and a litter of kittens to travel a city block and cost a bajillion dollars a mile to build we'd admit that the plan had its merits. Finally, though, we were forced to come to the conclusion that it didn't take very many obstacles at all to turn us against the trolley.

Loved by all, used by none, the trolley recieved $7.5 million in funding yesterday from the King County Council to go towards a new maintenance barn. Great, just in time. The rail line is set to cease operation this Friday and was to remain offline for up to two years. Seattlest guessed that it was probably the end of the line for the trolley and that it would never resume ferrying tourists from the Argosy pier down to Pioneer Square and back, and we were comfortable with that. Now it seems like it may return after all. Maybe. We still hold the opinion that any work done on the Alaskan Way viaduct will render the point moot and the trolley will either dissappear forever or be reconstituted as something wholly different if it is to ever resume service. Seven point five million says it will be back, though. We'll see. We do plan to take our first and most likely last ride ever on the trolley sometime before it goes dark on Friday. Clang clang.