The welcoming sign to Ida Grove, Iowa.
The Gomaco Trolley Company is straight down the road behind the trees in the distance. All over town there were castle-like buildings.
I am standing on Gomaco's main plant parking lot across the road from the trolley company.
The lot in front of the Gomaco Trolley Company plant is a manicured lawn and park with this sign.
You can see the Ida Grove water tower in the background. The tired trolley is used to weddings and other things.
Lookng out from the front entrance to the plant. The railroad is still used by various shortlines on an irregular basis and Gomaco sometimes hauls a trolley to this track and runs it a few miles for testing. There is no physical track connection.
Many buildings in Ida Grove, including the Gomaco Trolley Company, has vining plants attached.
Inside the plant now. This is a Birney trolley they are working on for the system in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Side of the Tampa Bay trolley.
More views inside the plant. Little Rock's two new trolleys were not far enough along to be displayed here yet. They were still obtaining all the parts, trucks, brass, etc. Eventually they will be placed where the two red trolleys are in the distance (these belong to St Louis). They have the signed contract for the Little Rock trolleys and are ready to go.
This is part of the Memphis system in for repairs.
View inside the Tampa Bay Birney under construction.
Front of the Tampa Bay trolley. The placement of the farebox and the brass poles are in Tampa Bay's design and won't be in Little Rock's new Birneys.
This is what you walk through after entering Gomaco's front door, a replica of a trolley.
All of Gomaco's great woodwork is done here.
Gomaco Trolley Company's 2005 calendar has the Little Rock system as the picture.
In a hallway.
John Kallin (left - Sales Manager) and Jeff Lawhead posed for me in front of Birney 436. They were super-nice to talk to and answered all my questions. John also drove me around town.
Some old trolleys and interurbans on a lot behind one of Gomaco's buildings across town.
These were from Philadelphia.
Jimmy Buffet was supposed to have visited the bus on the right at one time. I don't remember where it was from.
These trucks are stored at another Gomaco facility. They were mostly from Italy.
Closeup of one of the trucks. The ATM looks strikingly like Texas A&M University's lettering.
Another view. Little Rock's new trolleys will be using 8 of these.
Gomaco has its own brass foundry where they melt and form brass fittings and signs. Here's a view of that foundry. John Kallin said they try to do most of this work in the winter because it gets very hot in that room. This is located inside the main Gomaco Trolley Company plant.
Gomaco has lots of places around Ida Grove, including the Gomaco University Paving Center.
Even a Blimpies and drug store are built like castles in Ida Grove.
Ida Grove also has lots of wild geese.
One of the wind farms north of Ida Grove. These look like giant insects. Wonder how they look in a full moon?
Every few miles you see a farm house and barn surrounded by a small clump of trees and acres of cropland.