06/14/2026
What do YVT Linecar A and the very first Father's Day have in common? Both had their beginnings in Washington State in the summer of 1910.
There had long been a Mother's Day, but Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane thought there should be a Father's Day too. She campaigned for it and on June 19, 1910, Washington State held the first observance of Father's Day in the United States.
When the Union Pacific purchased the YVT railroad in 1909, it converted it to a genuine interurban railroad with extensions to Wiley City, Henrybro and Selah. It ordered new equipment from the Niles Car Company (a famous builder of classic interurban cars) including a passenger car, an express car, and flatbed locomotive .
The Niles cars arrived in Yakima on July 1, 1910, just 12 days after the first Father's Day, and were put into service. was built as a flatbed locomotive, but in 1922 YVT converted it into a line car for work on overhead trolley wires. has operated continuously in Yakima, with one exception, every year since 1910. That one exception was the Covid year of 2020 when no YVT cars were allowed to operate. Not bad for a 116-year-old locomotive, eh?
This Father's Day, as part of Yakima Valley Trolleys' preservation fund raising efforts, Line Car will be out and running. For a $50 donation to the preservation fund, you (or your Father) can have a ride on Line Car in the YVT yards. You will be shown how it operates and actually be given a chance to operate it yourself! Rides must be secured online in advance, so watch this page for reservation details very soon. Riders must be 18 or over, and able to climb on railroad equipment.
