Trolley planned for downtown Fayetteville

By Jenna Shackelford, posted Jun 24, 2021 on BizFayetteville.com

Ralph and Linda Huff stand in the doorway of one of the Can Do Coldwell Banker Trolleys.

Cool Spring Downtown District and Coldwell Banker Advantage are bringing a cool new ride to the streets of downtown Fayetteville.

Before COVID, Bianca Shoneman, CEO and president of Cool Spring Downtown District, approached Ralph Huff, the founder of H&H Homes and co-owner of Coldwell Banker Advantage, with an idea to bring trolleys to downtown Fayetteville.

“Downtown advocates for years have wanted to see a trolley system for the district. The ‘Can Do Coldwell Banker’ Trolleys complete this long-standing goal and will connect the adjoining residential nodes to the arts and entertainment district,” Shoneman said.

“I told her it was a fabulous idea and that I would be interested in helping. Then the pandemic hit,” Huff said.

Three months ago, once restrictions started to loosen, Shoneman saw the opportunity to start revisiting the trolley idea. She sent two models to Huff — a diesel trolley and an electric trolley.

“It was a significant amount of money so I went to my Coldwell Banker partners and asked Suzanne Pennink, Gary Raybon and Tim Milam if they would pay for half of the cost of the trolley if Linda and I paid the other half,” Huff explained. They all agreed.

Then, the team found out that the electric trolley would have to be built and couldn’t be delivered until the fall.

“But more important was the electric trolley could run only for six hours and then it had to charge for eight hours,” Huff said.

The two 2004 “Molley Trolleys” could be delivered faster and cost the same amount as one electric trolley. It also gave the range to carry people around for longer throughout the day.

“We believe that these models will provide a larger impact, connect more people, and allow us to both provide a downtown transportation circulator and a private trolley rental option,” Shoneman said.

“The second trolley can be available for special events. You could rent it to transport people to a wedding reception … You could do downtown historic tours with a narrator,” Huff said.

“Each trolley has a 36-person seating capacity, Cummins diesel engine, wooden benches, an internal PA System and cute little cast brass trolley bells,” Shoneman said. “One of the trolleys is wheel-chair accessible.”

The Cool Spring Downtown District will be responsible for scheduling, operating, maintenance and so on. Both trolleys will say “Can Do Coldwell Banker” to match the Can Do Carolina branding campaign.

Shoneman said she is excited to welcome the trolleys. “Free downtown Trolleys add to the excitement of downtown and the center city experience. The trolleys offer a vintage look and will be fun and functional for all ages,” she said.

Cool Spring is recruiting corporate partners and looking for two drivers with CDL licenses and a clean driving record. Interested parties should send email to Bianca Shoneman at bianca@coolspringfay.org.

Copyright © 2025 Enhanced Media Management Inc. dba Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
This story may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal, noncommercial use only and in accordance with our Terms of Service located at https://bizfayetteville.com/useragreement.