According to Railway Historian Alan Barnett, the electric cable car offered “ping-pong” service because it was not designed to make turns. When the car reached French Lick, the conductor would physically move the overhead power line around the back, allowing for the return trip to the depot at West Baden. The advent of the automobile put the brakes on the trolley service in 1919. That is, until Barnett and the folks at the Indiana Railway Museum resurrected the idea in 1987. They were able to find Trolley Car #313 from Portugal, the closest thing they could find to the original 1903 car. The trolley is making rounds again, thanks to a partnership between the resort and the Indiana Railway Museum. The museum worked with the Indiana Department of Transportation to draw up plans to redo the original track and secured a $200,000 grant. Simultaneously, craftsman Dan Ping took on the daunting task of restoring the old trolley car. The decay was extensive and the years had not been kind to #313. He saved as much of the original material as possible, including the interior components and the undercarriage. He built a brand-new cupola atop the trolley and added some “juice” with a diesel engine and hydrostatic transmission. The end result is nothing short of a work of art.