Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, a protected oasis for the animals of the Northwest and a place where both adults and children can witness them living in as close to their natural state as possible, began as a dream of Dr. David and Connie Hellyer back in 1936 when they purchased the land. The park, located in Eatonville, Wash., some 55 miles south of Seattle, became a reality in 1975, four years after the Hellyers donated the property to Metro Parks Tacoma.

Since its opening, more than two million visitors have enjoyed the pristine wilderness. When it comes to transporting those visitors around Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, nothing works quite like propane. The park uses four propane-powered trams to transport approximately 160,000 people annually on a tour that allows them to experience a variety of North American animals in their natural environment.

The 55-minute tour over 435 acres of forests, lakes, meadows, and swamps is the highlight of the park, according to Tamyra Howser, public relations specialist for Northwest Trek. “Virtually every visitor to the park goes on the tram tour. It's definitely the centerpiece of the park.” Tour participants are able to view such North American animals as bison, bighorn sheep, Roosevelt elk, deer, moose, mountain goats, and caribou in a diverse and natural setting.

Because the tram tour is such an integral part of the park’s mission of conservation, education, and recreation, it was crucial to choose a fuel that was conducive to the mission as well. “Propane was a natural choice for the park,” said Ken Dart, maintenance leader for the trams. “We needed a fuel that was clean, could stand up to tough driving conditions, and had affordable infrastructure. Diesel was just too dirty and the infrastructure for natural gas is incredibly expensive.”

Propane’s Proven Reliability

The park ran two propane trams since its opening in 1975 before purchasing two more in 2000 to accommodate increased visitation. The older trams use Chrysler 440-cu in. dedicated propane engines while the newer ones purchased from Specialty Vehicles Inc. (Huntington Beach, Calif.) feature a Cummins 5.9-liter, 195-hp dedicated propane engine with a closed-loop electronic fuel control system. Each tram consists of a power car and two trailers capable of holding a total of 90 passengers.

Suburban Propane’s (Whippany, N.J.) facility in nearby Spanaway has installed two 1000-gal. tanks and a dispensing unit to supply the trams with fuel. “We’re happy to be a part of such an incredible park. [The park] is a great idea and Northwest does a tremendous job operating it,” said Bob LaBrousse, manager of the Spanaway facility. 

“Suburban has been fantastic to us,” said Dart. “They took care of installing the tanks and pump for us and have been very receptive to anything we need.”

Three of the four trams typically run through the day, with one out of service for pre-scheduled maintenance The trams drive over mountainous terrain and are subject to frequent stop-and-go driving during the tour. Because of these harsh conditions and the fact that the tram tour is vital to the park’s offering, the trams are on a daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance schedule—in addition to an extensive yearly check-up. The daily and weekly maintenance checks are heavy on safety items such as tires, fuel leaks, and brakes, while the monthly and yearly schedules deal more with preventive maintenance of the engines.

“The propane engines have held up well because of the clean burning attributes of the fuel,” said Dale Hasenbalg, lead mechanic for the park. “We’ve had to rebuild the regulators on the older trams, but other than that we've had no problems with them.”

Due to the stop-and-go nature of the tour and the terrain they must transverse, the trams get only about 3 to 5 mpg, which translates to an annual consumption of between 10,000 and 15,000 gal. But far more important to the park is that the trams can navigate every aspect of the wildlife area for seven continuous hours without polluting the very scenery visitors have come to enjoy.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the park also offers a walking tour in which grizzly and black bears, wolves, cougars, eagles, and other wetland animals live in natural exhibits of up to an acre in size.

-Sam Silvas