Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Car 78 waits to pick up passengers at the museum
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| Established | 1953 |
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| Location | 1 Museum Road, Washington, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°12′29″N 80°15′19″W / 40.20802°N 80.25532°W |
| Type | Railway museum |
| Website | http://www.pa-trolley.org/ |
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, located at 1 Museum Road, Washington, Pennsylvania, is a museum dedicated to trolleys and includes several restored examples.
The origin of the museum can be traced to a group of electric railway enthusiasts who acquired Pittsburgh Railways Company M-1, a small four wheel Pittsburgh trolley in 1949. It and Pittsburgh Railways Company 3756, a single end lowfloor and West Penn Curveside 832 were stored for them in Ingram Carhouse by Pittsburgh Railways until 1954. In 1953 the Pittsburgh Railways Interurban line from Pittsburgh to Washington was abandoned and the newly formed Pittsburgh Electric Railway Club bought 2,000 feet (610 m) of the line next to the old County Home trolley stop north of Washington in Chartiers Township, Pennsylvania. On February 7, 1954 the three trolleys stored in Pittsburgh were run to the museum site from Pittsburgh under their own power shortly before the line was removed. They were followed by Pittsburgh Railways Company 4398, a double ended lowfloor car which then returned the museum members back to Pittsburgh, forming the last passenger service on the line.
Following a period of restoration and rebuilding the Arden Trolley Museum opened to the public in June 1963.
In 2012, the museum adopted a cat, called Frank the Trolley Cat, after Frank J. Sprague, the inventor of the trolley wheel.
According to their web site, the museum's mission is "to communicate the story of Pennsylvania's Trolley Era to a diverse audience through the preservation, interpretation, and use of its collection of electric railway and railroad equipment." To that end, the museum includes a collection of 45 refurbished trolleys. The museum owns a New Orleans streetcar, Perley A. Thomas car #832, formerly used on various lines in New Orleans including the Desire line which is mentioned in the film A Streetcar Named Desire based on the play by Tennessee Williams, although it is not the streetcar actually in the film (#922, still in service in New Orleans). Much of the museum's collection is housed in a $2 million "Trolley Display Building" which opened May 6, 2005. Visitors can take a short ride on a restored functioning trolley. A special ride during the Christmas season includes a visit from Santa Claus. In September 2004, the area surrounding the museum flooded in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. The floodwaters caused substantial damage to the museum which has since been repaired.
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Wikipedia