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About Trolley No. 23
No. 23 was manufactured by the J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia, which was the largest trolley car manufacturer at the turn of the century. It was built in 1899. It remained in active service in the city of Lisbon, Portugal until 1978 when it was made surplus by a new subway. No 23 and five other operating trolleys were then purchased by ASRC, an Aspen non-profit, and shipped by boat and then driven on trucks to Aspen.
No. 23 is in keeping with the scale of small communities like Aspen. It is compact, seating 24 passengers. It is 30 feet long, under 8 feet wide, and 12 feet high. It runs on 3 foot narrow gauge track able to make the turns in narrow streets and safely operate in traffic. Soon after arrival in Aspen, No. 23 was given an Aspen "identity" and put to use as an Information Center in Rubey Park.
In 1982 all six trolleys were given to Aspen. Soon after this, No. 23 was retired by the city to the back of the county dump for safe storage. But out of site it was quickly forgotten, its covering rotted, it badly deteriorated and was vandalized.
In November of 2002, following an un-successful election bid to create an Aspen Trolley System, all six trolleys were given away by the then current city council in spite of attempts by Aspen locals to purchase them. The new owner of No. 23, realizing its state of deterioration, left it in Aspen.
In December of 2003 thanks to the forward thinking of a new city council and the trolley's then owner, No. 23 has been returned to local ownership and given a chance for preservation.
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