ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The nonprofit National Museum of Transportation near Kirkwood is trying to raise money to remove graffiti from two of its trolleys.
Terri McEachern, executive director of the museum, said vandals damaged the trolleys Jan. 10.
Video cameras show two people carrying bags and entering the property off Barrett Station Road about 6 a.m. that Friday, McEachern said. They walked in along train tracks of the Union Pacific mainline and climbed over rocks to get to the trolleys, she said.
After defacing the trolleys, the vandals then spray painted the security cameras, Darryl Ross, president of the museum’s board, said in a statement.
The vandals haven’t been caught yet.
St. Louis County police Detective Calvin McClain said he has no suspects.
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“Stay tuned,” he said. “I’m hoping something will come to light.”
McClain said the video images aren’t that great and he chose not to publicize the images in his effort to find the vandals. He said he can’t even confirm if the vandals were male or female.
The cost to remove the graffiti from both trolleys will be $20,000, McEachern said.
“Our trolley volunteers, they do all the restoration work and they operate the trolleys,” she said. “It’s just so discouraging for them.”
The museum aims to have the trolleys cleaned up and ready to run again by mid-March, when they’d typically be ready for the next season.
The trolleys are now roped off, covered in ice and snow, McEachern said. She declined to allow the Post-Dispatch to take a photograph of the damaged trolleys, saying she didn’t want to give the taggers notoriety.
One of two streetcars that were damaged by graffiti in January 2025 is seen at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood in 2002. The 1914 trolley car was used by the St. Louis Waterworks Railway.
One of the trolleys was the St. Louis Waterworks Railway #10. It was built by St. Louis Car Co. for the city-owned electric railway in 1914, according to the museum. The waterworks railway ran between Baden and the Chain of Rocks water plant for city workers, beginning in 1902.
The other trolley is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, #2740. It was built in 1947.
The museum is at 2933 Barrett Station Road, near Kirkwood in unincorporated St. Louis County.
A green-and-cream trolley was marred in spray paint with white bubble letters. Initials and numbers were scribbled across its side. On another part of the trolley, big red bubble letters, JSK, were outlined in black.
The vandals painted the graffiti as snow was falling.
“That’s somebody with a mission,” McEachern said.
Snow started accumulating that day around 6 a.m., and continued until 1 to 3 inches had fallen throughout the region, according to the National Weather Service. That was on top of the several inches of snow and rain from the Jan. 5-6 snowstorm.
Graffiti isn’t seen much in the county, but it has covered many parts of St. Louis. The city spends roughly $365,000 annually for graffiti removal through the nonprofit Brightside St. Louis. But that pays for removing only a fraction of what is out there.
For information on the Museum of Transportation’s fundraiser, go to the museum’s website.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of thousands of images each year. Take a look at some from December 2024. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
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