December 25th will be here before you know it, so if you want to score big points with your older child and become the coolest dad on the block, scoring this one-of-a-kind electric trolley should get you there fast. However, if you mainly want it for yourself instead, presenting it as the ultimate kid’s Christmas gift might sway your wife into justifying the $4,800 price tag. Located in Sugar Valley, Georgia, the seller says this was custom-built for a department store Santa to ride around the tree on its track, but the future possibilities are limited only by one’s imagination. If you’ve already got ideas, you can find this trolley here on Facebook Marketplace, and we thank reader PRA4SNW for this unusual but very cool tip!
The owner quickly points out that this trolley probably isn’t a good idea for a younger child because of its seat height, so they recommend considering it primarily for kids over 5. However, if it’s destined to become your own big-boy toy, age really doesn’t matter here! The story goes that the seller found this in the back of a machine shop and says his company custom-built it for a 300-pound Kris Kringle, so it’s likely heavy-duty enough to handle just about any future activity. It was retired from department-store duty about 15 years ago, and everything still seems to be in very good condition.
The trolley features a hand-crafted wooden body, and its presentation and construction quality are impressive, making it both a work of art and a functional roller. It has a padded bench seat on top for you to sit on (oops, I meant your child), and a steel frame below with a functional spring suspension. Other details include an electric horn, a manual bell, and even a working headlight. It includes more than 60 feet of track, with 2 straight pieces and 4 curved sections, so there’s plenty of distance to reach its full speed of 3-5 MPH. However, if you use this outside, the seller recommends placing the tracks on gravel, as he says it will derail sitting on grass alone.
A 12-volt DC electric traction motor provides propulsion, and a car battery juices the rechargeable power source, which sends energy to a chain drive below. This combination is reportedly simple to repair and inexpensive to operate, since there are no complicated processors or computer chips to worry about. The vision and execution seem spot on, and while I’m probably not ready to ask my wife about spending our vacation money on this contraption for me to occasionally play on, I can see strong potential for a business or other activity that needs to attract attention. Any chance this custom-built electric trolley might be in your future?
There’s a similar setup like this at the city park in Carson City, NV. but with a locomotive and cars like these. Used to be a big draw but doesn’t seem to be anymore-a shame.
GLWTS
I’d put the tree up in the middle of the living room, and ride the train around it all day!