Tourism Medicine Hat's two flagship trolleys can serve a combined total of 61 passengers after its newest addition arrived from Texas. With two new trolleys operational, manager of transportation operation Mo Cranker says the organization is working toward the capacity to run two simultaneous tours, which would allow for significant expansions to programming.--NEWS PHOTO ZOE MASON
Tourism Medicine Hat’s popular Sunshine Trolley program is seeing a major expansion with an addition to the fleet.
The organization acquired the first trolley in 2018. The old trolley, a modified GMC bus dating from 1985, was joined by a newer purpose-built trolley in 2022. The latest addition was imported to Medicine Hat earlier this summer, making its big debut this week.
“I think at the very beginning, people wondered why Medicine Hat would have a trolley. I think we did something like 15 trips in the first year,” said Mo Cranker, manager of transportation operations for Tourism Medicine Hat.
The program quickly grew. This year, Tourism Medicine Hat has put on nearly 300 trips. As the aging first trolley has slowly seen less and less action, those trips were serviced by only one trolley. And with the Holiday Season coming up fast, Cranker says they will easily hit that 300 mark.
“We started with just the city tours, but we’ve added a lot, and it’s a really fun way for either visitors to explore a new city or for locals to try a place they haven’t tried before,” said Cranker.
“Our ridership for the summer tours is over 90 per cent every year, and it seems like every time we try something new, it sells out. Like the Christmas lights tours – we haven’t even posted about them on social media, and we’re already trying to find a way to add new dates. The demand is there, so we need to try and feed it.”
The Sunshine Trolley is perhaps Tourism Medicine Hat’s most popular program. But importing trolley cars to the heart of the prairies is no easy undertaking.
Following the success of the first unit, Cranker says the strain of demand and the difficulty of facilitating repairs on the bespoke vintage trolley made it clear they would need to find a second car. After months of calls and emails, Cranker says he found one – all the way in Newfoundland.
Tourism Medicine Hat sent a mechanic and a driver to pick it up out East, and the seller drove the trolley aboard the ferry to meet them. But when it arrived in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, a mix-up lost the one and only key.
“It went up to a dealership,” said Cranker. “A Ford dealership in New Brunswick had our trolley key. So the driver and the mechanic just got to hang out in Nova Scotia for a couple days and eat seafood.”
The new ride eventually made it to Medicine Hat, but over time the original trolley car has been all but phased out, driving Cranker to once again source a new one. He found the newest trolley online, brokered from Las Vegas for a vendor in Texas.
“Just before Canada Day I flew down to Texas to check it out,” said Cranker. “Obviously I fell in love with it. The interior is gorgeous – it seats 35, the Newfoundland one seats 26, so it gives us a bit of extra play to have bigger groups.”
He says they briefly lost the trolley to another buyer, but the deal fell through. It was in great condition, but it didn’t have a working engine – Cranker didn’t care, he was determined to get it to the Hat.
He says importing a commercial vehicle across international borders is a challenge. After finding a customs broker and arranging transport through a company in High River, the trolley was dragged into Alberta, where it was fitted with a new engine.
Finally up and running here in the Hat, Cranker says Tourism Medicine Hat is optimistic both trolleys will be on the road in time to expand Holiday Season availability.
Christmas-themed events have already begun, kicking off with last weekend’s Holiday Blooms and Brunch tour.
The tour started with a meal at Hometown before taking participants on a trip to the Windmill Garden Centre to feed the goats and pick up a plant, and then on to Botanicals for a workshop. Events like this are good for drawing traffic to a variety of local businesses, Cranker says, and giving locals an excuse to break out of old habits and try something new.
A majority of trolley patrons are locals, with 70 per cent coming from the Medicine Hat area. That 30 per cent of out-of-town riders come from all over, with this year’s trolleys serving visitors from more than 10 countries and nine Canadian provinces.
Sponsorships also enable a discounted rate for teachers to book the trolley for 60- or 90-minute tours. In 2025, 90 classroom tours served 2,500 students and teachers.
Cranker says it’s not hard to see why the program is so popular.
“How do you not love a big red bus that drives around town?”
