Something Blue

By Julie Duffin
April 2025 View more Community

The Naperville Trolley celebrates 30 years

It’s hard not to smile when the Naperville Trolley drives by with its friendly “ding, ding.” Especially if its enthusiastic owner Annette Wehrli, a.k.a. “The Trolley Chick,” is behind the wheel. This local mode of transport has been a part of the community for 30 years, providing memorable rides for visitors and locals alike.

Naperville Trolley & Tours began when Wehrli’s father, Don, took a trolley ride at a wedding in Washington state. Inspired to bring the concept to Naperville, he ordered a canary-yellow trolley and launched the business in 1995.

Before she began working with her father in 1999, Wehrli earned a degree in criminal justice and spent five years with the Naperville Police Department. After living and working in Chicago for a bit, she returned to Naperville to raise her sons. She earned a commercial driver’s license and quickly learned the business. In 2014 she purchased the company from her father.

“The first thing I did was buy a new trolley—it was time for the original ‘Ol’ Yeller’ to retire,” she explains. “I saved the bell, and it now sits proudly in my living room.” As she replaced the fleet with three large blue-and-white new trolleys, she retired one of the smaller ones to her backyard and plans to convert it into a she shed.

Thanks to her family’s deep roots in the community, Wehrli brings a unique and insightful perspective to her narrated tours, with her passion for the area often leaving a lasting impression on riders.

She fondly recalls one time when a North Central College student recognized her. “He told me his family visited North Central three times when he was trying to decide where to go to school,” she says. “They took the trolley tour each time and said I was the one who helped him decide on North Central. I got tears in my eyes. It made me so happy.” On another occasion, a bride told her she had taken her tour in elementary school, used the trolley for prom, and was now using it on her wedding day. Wehrli says she has even hosted a few celebrities on the trolley—but she won’t divulge any names.

The trolleys are primarily rented for corporate events, North Central College visit days, weddings, historic tours, holiday lights tours, school dances, birthday celebrations, and other special events. Individual tickets are available for summer historic tours, children’s rides, and the holiday lights tours. The popular Halloween and December light tours start booking in May, and weddings can be booked up to two years in advance. (After all, the trolley’s color makes it the perfect “something blue.”) Be on the lookout for 30th-anniversary activities at napervilletrolley.com.

Photos: Annette Wehrli