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Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and the Journey Home 9/2-4/2024

We left the Quality Inn in Midway and drove to the Front Street Diner in Harrisburg for another excellent breakfast. Elizabeth then drove us on Highway 22 to US Highway 322, to Interstate 99 to Altoona and we made our way to the Horseshoe Curve. Unfortunately and unknown to us until we were there, they were closed Mondays and Tuesdays so we could not watch any trains here. After informing Greg and Marty Smith of the change in plans, we drove west to the Tunnel Inn then west on US 22, taking that to Pittsburgh then Interstate 370, Pennsylvania Highway 576 to Interstate 79, to Washington, Pennsylvania and followed the signs to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

The two of us went inside, paid our admission and first toured the car barn.

Streetcars served America through two world wars and a depression, but affluence and automobiles caused the end of the Trolley Era and a greatly diminished role for public transportation. As streetcars were phased out, groups formed to preserve trolleys with the goal of operating them for future generations. One such group was the Pittsburgh Electric Railway Club, which was formed in 1946 by members of the Pittsburgh NRHS (National Railway Historical Society) chapter which had preserved a car prior to World War II. This car was lost to the scrap drive as members were occupied with their duties overseas and on the home front. Still the dream lived on. PERC members purchased their first streetcar in 1949, added a second car in 1952 and a third in 1953. With acquisition of a site in Chartiers Township, Washington County and the wonderful cooperation of the Pittsburgh Railways Company, the three-car collection motored to the site on February 7, 1954 to establish the first Trolley Museum in Pennsylvania with operation by trip attendees. First known as Arden Electric Railway, this pioneering effort has over several decades become the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Construction of a car house building, repair of track and overhead lines followed and on December 8, 1962, the streetcars were once again operational on the Museum's 1 mile ride. On June 23 of the following year the museum received its first official visitors after a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Since then, the museum has seen several decades of expansion. The car collection, the existing track, the car house and visitor buildings have all seen major growth. Today, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum owns nearly 50 street and electric railway cars, 20 of which are operational on the museum's four mile ride. Each year over 30,000 visitors are treated to a hands-on, moving history lesson.

After all, that's the main appeal of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum: visitors do not just "see" the past up close; they "experience" it for themselves on an unforgettable ride through the countryside. With the help of PTM's 150 volunteers, we are committed to keeping that experience alive for generations to come.

Rio de Janeiro Tramways 1758 built by Rio de Janeiro Tramways in 1911. No other streetcar attracted the riding public's attention quite like the open car. One hundred years ago, summer trolley rides were advertised as the perfect way to cool off, and the companies did a brisk business taking passengers to parks or for a ride in the country. Many trolley companies built those parks that became the destinations – it was simply good business! As safety became more of an issue, due to autos sharing the streets, open trolleys in most American cities disappeared in the late 1920s. In Rio de Janiero, however, use of the cars continued into the 1960s, when a dozen cars of JG Brill design and Brazilian manufacture were brought to the United States by a group of trolley museums. Car 1758 is one of these cars. It is the same Brill Narragansett design as open cars operated by West Penn Railways in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, although the West Penn opens were wider and longer. Car 1758 was originally purchased and restored by the Magee Transportation Museum in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. It was restored and then operated there as Magee Museum 3, until that museum's untimely closure as a result of extensive damage from Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The car was purchased in 1973 and moved to New Jersey where it was used as a prop inside a hobby shop. The owner of this shop retired to Florida and the car accompanied his move. It was set up inside the Lionel Train and Seashell Museum in Sarasota, Florida, where it was used indoors as a display and as a seating area to watch videos. In 1990, the car was purchased by the City of Orlando, Florida. It was to be used as the first streetcar (and as a device to generate public interest and Federal funding) for a proposed Heritage Streetcar line in Orlando. The car was refurbished, re-numbered 1 and given the nickname of "Oscar" (for Orlando Streetcar). Unfortunately, Orlando never created the proposed Heritage Streetcar line, and 1758 sat unused in indoor storage for many years until being sold at auction in 2006.

Beaver Valley Traction Company snow sweeper 1 built by McGuire-Cummings in 1918. Beaver Valley Traction and Pittsburgh Railways shared the same parent company. It was delivered at the same time as six similar cars purchased by Pittsburgh Railways for use in Pittsburgh. The car came to Pittsburgh after the Beaver Valley line closed down in the 1930's. It is the only piece of surviving equipment from that company. The basic appearance of the snow sweeper did not change appreciably in the two decades separating the manufacture of M37 and this car. But there were significant structural improvements to this later model, such as the steel frame that supports the body.

Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company 5326 built by J.G. Brill Company in 1923. Just as Pittsburgh Railways had favored one car design for many years, so too had PRT favored the general design of cars like 5326, to the point where they had over 2,000 cars representing several variations of the same basic design. Brill had built so many cars for PRT over the years that a track was built from the street outside into the Brill plant just for the delivery of new cars! Because Philadelphia lacks Pittsburgh's hills, the cars there didn't need to be as powerful. 5326 has only two motors to drive it, while most of the museum's other eight wheel cars have four motors. In order to get maximum traction from the two powered axles, a distinctive design of truck was used, having two small unpowered "pony" wheels and two larger "driver" wheels. Car 5326 is an example of the advance in the car builder's art introduced just prior to World War I. The use of considerably more steel in the basic construction and the stronger, easier to maintain arch roof became the standard in car design into the early 1930s. The next step would be the introduction of lightweight alloys, and eventually the all-steel PCC car.

Introduction of the PCC car to Philadelphia in 1938 prompted major changes to 5326 and several of her sister cars. In 1941, the newly formed Philadelphia Transportation Company initiated a modernization program designed to attract patronage by applying features from the new streamlined cars to the older cars. As a result, the original wood slat seats were upholstered, enclosed lighting fixtures were installed, rubber flooring replaced hardwood and green paint was used to cover the car's traditional brass and cherry wood appointments. In April 1958, car 5326 had the distinction of being the first trolley car to ever travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike (even if it was on a trailer truck), as it moved to its new home in Washington, PA. While many of the cars at the museum are the lone survivors of their type, this is not true of 5326. Sister car 5205 has been preserved by the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton.

Restoration of this car, initiated in 1976 as part of the American Revolution Bicentennial celebration, was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The extensive work undertaken to return this car to its 1923 appearance spanned a five year period, and included overhauling its controls and running gear, and undoing all of the modernization applied in 1941. This "labor of love" required more than 3,000 hours of labor by museum volunteers who donated their weekends and vacations to the preservation of history. The car has served as a mainstay of public operation at PTM since 1980, with a short break in 2004 & 2005 when flood damage from the remains of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.

Philadelphia Transportation Company 2711 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1947. Philadelphia Transportation Company had a large fleet of PCC streamliners, of which 2711 (along with sister car 2723) represents one of the more recent. Originally built for service on the busy 23-Germantown Avenue line, the car came equipped for 2-man operation - almost unheard of in 1947, but traffic on the route more than covered the extra operating cost. As PTC gave way to SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) in 1968, the 2700s continued in service and remained after several trolley lines had been discontinued. Because of their age, many cars went through a general overhaul rebuilding in the 1980s to extend their useful life another ten years, including the replacement of the hand-cranked windows with school bus style windows and seating from scrapped former transit buses. But once that time was up and new cars were acquired, streetcar operation was sharply curtailed and the cars were surplus. In 1999 car 2711 was acquired by PTM for the purpose of having a wheelchair accessible car for operations. The generosity of corporate partner Adtranz (now Bombardier) that builds people mover cars and components in nearby West Mifflin allowed the car to be taken from Philadelphia to their factory in Elmira, New York where crews restored the original 1947 appearance. As a work car 2711 had many of it's seats removed which facilitated reworking of the interior.

Philadelphia Suburban 14 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1949. The St. Louis cars were delivered in May and June 1949 and represent what many consider to be the last interurban cars built in America. Their arrival permitted Red Arrow to retire a group of Jewett-built interurbans dating to 1913, and several two-man center door cars like cars 66 & 73. While these cars are equipped with the same high-speed running gear as the Brilliners, they also have multiple unit capabilities (can be coupled together in pairs) and two-way radios. These important features were required to expand service along the rapidly developing West Chester line, which operated on single track over the majority of its 19-mile length. In 1954, the widening of Pennsylvania Route 3 brought the decision to abandon the line to West Chester, after which the "Louie" became the mainstay of operation for the remaining rail lines. Cars 14 and 24 were withdrawn from regular service in September 1982 following acceptance of 29 new LRVs Two St. Louis-built cars were selected for preservation here at the Museum because they will demonstrate the operation of streetcars in multiple unit. Work on 14 was the most complex trolley restoration undertaken to date by our crew. Pennsylvania Trolley Museum volunteers began work on this project in the summer of 1997 and returned to car to service at the Museum in June 2004.

Federal Street & Pleasant Valley horse car 101 built by John Stephenson Company circa 1859. This veteran is the oldest car in the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum collection and while we do not have records of its sale, delivery or operating assignment, we do know that the body style is typical of Stephenson cars built in the 1870s. There is also proof that cars like 101 were used on lines serving Allegheny City. In Pittsburgh, the first street railway was built in 1859 on Penn Avenue in the Strip District. Horse cars were used from 1859 until 1923, though most were gone before 1900. The last line, on Sarah Street on the South Side, survived largely to protect a franchise on that street. Car 101 (renumbered M3 after 1902) was used on line which operated to the western end of Allegheny City by way of the wooden covered Union Bridge that spanned the Allegheny River at the Point. In 1909 that bridge was replaced by a modern steel Manchester Bridge which permitted use heavier of electric cars and M3 was retired as a display at the Exposition Building located in present day Point Park. At the Exposition the car was painted and lettered in the scheme you see it today.

Horsecar 101 was part of an exhibit at Pittsburgh's Exposition Hall located near the Point circa 1915. It was numbered 3 instead of its original number. As a Pittsburgh Railways car its fleet number was M3. During the 1920's, the car was taken from display repainted and re-lettered and used in parades. In 1934 the car was given to Allegheny County and again becoming an exhibit, this time at the South Park Fairgrounds where it remained in various locations until it was donated to the museum in 1971.

Philadelphia Suburban 24 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1949. When the Red Arrow Lines (Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company) needed additional modern equipment to handle the burgeoning postwar population growth in Philadelphia's western suburbs it turned to St. Louis Car Company. Red Arrow's traditional builder of choice J.G. Brill ceased streetcar production following construction of Brilliners 1-10 in 1941. The fourteen cars they supplied were quite advanced for the day, featuring streamlined bodies of the PCC car but riding on traditional wheelsets and having larger motors for high-speed operation. Little wonder, then, that car 24 (and sister 14, beautifully restored to its 1949 appearance and in service at the Museum) remained in regular operation until new cars were purchased in 1982. Car 24 is the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's newest streetcar (only the Budd built 1960 subway car is newer).

Pittsburgh Railways Company 3487 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1905. Trolley patronage grew dramatically after 1900, necessitating larger streetcars than the first four-wheelers. Car 3487 is an early example of a heavy eight-wheel model. Underneath the steel sheeting is an almost all-wood design. The car's powerful motors allowed trailers to be towed for even more capacity. This is the type of car that opened service on the Charleroi interurban route in 1902. Car 3487 was converted for work car duty in 1934 (it was based at the Charleroi Car House) and thus survived into the 1950s, when it was acquired by the Museum. It is the last of its type.

West Penn Railways Company 832 built by Cincinnati Car Company in 1930. A dozen of these lightweight, "curved-side" cars were acquired for West Penn's Allegheny Valley Street Railway during the winter of 1929-30. Introduced on Valentine's Day 1930, they afforded patrons the finest accommodations of the day on the routes between Aspinwall, New Kensington and Natrona. Company accountants liked them, too, because they required one crew man instead of two. After the Valley Route was abandoned in 1937, the cars were moved to the company's Coke Region division, where they ran on routes to Latrobe, Fairchance, Phillips and South Connellsville. 832 was the last of the series in service, finishing up on the South Connellsville route at the end of rail operations in 1952. 832 was the second car acquired for the Museum and trucked from Connellsville to Charleroi Car House on the Pittsburgh Railways system in February 1953.

In May 1953 the car was operated on a special fundraising "fantrip" and brought from Charleroi to Ingram Car House. February 7, 1954, West Penn 832 was moved under its own power with Pittsburgh Railways M1 and 3756, to its new home in Washington County along the former Washington interurban right-of-way near the village of Arden. Seven years of outdoor storage took its toll on 832 and the car was inoperative at the time the museum started operation in 1962 and extensive repairs were undertaken. Work on the car was sporadic until 2010 when the restoration effort became the focus of a Transportation Enhancement Grant. A restoration plan was written and bids were received for execution of the work from interested firms. In August 2010 the car and its assorted parts were shipped to Brookville Corporation in Brookville Pennsylvania and work commenced. The car was returned in July 2011 for completion of work in the PTM restoration shop. In June 2018, the car was rolled out in a ceremony at the Trolley Display Building and used in regular operation that weekend, however, it was sidelined again for adjustments to the wiring and a rewinding of its four traction motors. The car was officially placed into regular service for the 2021 operating season.

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit 94 built by Pullman Standard Company in 1948. The Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights was unusual in that its developers included a rapid transit line as part of the original community design. Good transportation to the city, it was felt, would make the neighborhood all that more attractive to prospective land purchasers. The premise has been highly successful and the transit system works splendidly. Ownership was assumed by the City of Shaker Heights in 1944. Twenty-five cars like 94 were purchased four years later to modernize the operation. After over 30 years service, 94 and similar cars were replaced with new vehicles. Several of these Pullman- built PCC cars have been preserved by trolley museums. 94 is the only Pullman-built PCC car in the museum's collection and is it only PCC with General Electric control. After acquisition of the car in 1987 time was spent stripping the exterior paint and priming painting the surfaces and repairing rust holes following several years of outside storage in Cleveland. The painting and body work was restarted in 2016 by a group of volunteers from the Cleveland area. The car is part of the exhibit in the Trolley Display Building.

Toledo Railways & Light Company car Toledo built by the company in 1906. In the November 1906 Electric Railway Review (an industry trade magazine), the following is reported: "observation Car for Toledo-- The Toledo Railway & Light Company has recently built an observation car which will be put on a regular schedule next summer for the accommodation of sightseers. The new car, which is named "Toledo," is 47 feet long, and besides the passenger compartments contains a kitchen and a lavatory. The interior is finished in light mahogany and is handsomely furnished. The windows are 4 feet wide, with a narrow framework so as to interfere with the view as little as possible. During the winter, the car will be used by the officials for inspection trips. The car was built in the company's shops under the supervision of Mr. C.A. Brown master mechanic, according to designs furnished by General Manager L.E. Beilstein". The car was used in Toledo as specified above. One notable occasion was in 1908, when it transported dignitaries from Toledo to Detroit for the World Series, in which the Detroit Tigers took on the Chicago Cubs. This game was notably the last time the Cubs were national champs until their win over the Cleveland Indians in 2016.

West Penn Railways Company 739 built by West Penn Railways in 1925. West Penn Railways operated more than 150 miles of streetcar lines in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, connecting the larger towns such as Greensburg, Connellsville and Uniontown to the smaller towns and the multitude of coal "patches" that dotted the map. West Penn had 40 cars like 739 and numerous smaller cars, all of which at its peak in 1923 carried 55 million riders annually. At 58 feet, these were among the longest streetcars to operate in the state. Car 739 spent a few years in the late 1920s spruced up as a parlor car named "Faywest, running in special limited-stop service in the company's last major attempt to compete head-on with the automobile. After retirement in 1952, 739 spent 36 years as a home near Jeannette before coming to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 1989.

Since being placed on exhibit in the Trolley Display Building, volunteers have done extensive work on the exterior of the car. Part of our exhibit shows reprinted newspaper articles from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that tell the story of the Smail Family turning a retired streetcar into a home. The wide open interior of the car currently serves as a workshop for the ongoing effort to restore the exterior appearance of the cars.

Monongahela West Penn Railway 274 built by Jewett Car Company in 1918. West Virginia had limited streetcar service compared to Pennsylvania. It was confined to the major cities, with Monongahela Valley Traction being the most important company. In 1923, the company was bought by the Pittsburgh-based West Penn System, which also operated trolleys in Wheeling as well as in Western Pennsylvania. Car 274 was modern for its time, featuring all-steel construction and multiple-unit control, and initially served the Fairmont-Clarksburg-Weston route. A large freight door allowed transportation of commodities. In 1937, the car was transferred to the Parkersburg-Marietta division before being retired three years later. Car 274 is a member of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's "lived-in" fleet - it served, with a sister car, for more than three decades as a summer cottage in Southeast Ohio before coming to the Museum in 1974.

Monongahela Valley Transportation Company steeplecab locomotive 3000 built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in 1920. West Virginia's Monongahela Valley Traction Company ran not only interurban electric passenger service between cities, but also a full-fledged freight operation on the same track. This joint service continued until 1947, when the streetcars were discontinued. (Interestingly, competitor Baltimore & Ohio then acquired part of the trolley line south of Clarksburg because its grades were better than their own.) Locomotive 3000 was built for MVT's freight service and utilizes heavy-duty trolley technology in a compact package (compact it may be, but the crane lifting it revealed its weight to be 107,000 pounds!)

After the streetcar days, 3000 went to Monongahela Power's Rivesville power plant, where it was used to shift coal cars brought in on the railroad. It came to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 1968.

Pittsburgh Harmony Butler & New Castle Railway 115 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1909. The Harmony Route was an interurban electric railway which operated from Pittsburgh to terminals in Butler and New Castle. Along the way, this line passed through the North Hills suburban communities including Ross, McCandless, Marshall, Bradford Woods and Cranberry. At Evans City, the line split into its two branches with the western branch passing through Zelienople and Ellwood City on its way to New Castle. In 1914, the branch into Ellwood City was extended across the new bridge at Koppel and then south to the lower end of Beaver Falls.

As a rule, early interurban cars were essentially self-propelled railroad coaches with all the wooden construction and ornamentation. Car 115 featured ornate interior decoration, plush seating and a lavatory, for the ultimate in regional intercity travel. There were, however, too few passengers to appreciate this luxury, and the company was economically compelled to abandon its electric operations in 1931. A close cousin to the Harmony Route was the Short Line, a separate interurban line which reached Butler on a route that passed through Valencia and Mars. This line was bankrupted in the mid-teens and ultimately bought by the more profitable Harmony Route.

In 1931, when both lines passed out of existence, the bus company which replaced them operated under the name Harmony Shortline. It is this fact that has for many years prompted some to use this name to refer to all electric railways in the North Hills. After operations quit, a motorman named Clark purchased the car and had it taken to a plot along State Route 88 (now 65) between Ellwood City and New Castle, where it became a roadside diner. Fifty-five years later, the car was extracted from what had become a much larger restaurant and brought to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. As is the case with a number of the Museum's cars, 115 is the only surviving example from its original owner.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 209 built by J.G. Brill Company in 1931. When new management came to the Philadelphia & Western Railway early in the Great Depression, it was convinced that high-speed service would bring back the riders. They were so committed to this principle were that wind tunnel testing was employed in the design of these "bullet"-shaped cars, both to bring about the highest practical speed for the cars and also to reduce wind resistance to a minimum - thereby reducing operating costs. The Philadelphia & Western was an example of high-platform, rapid transit type service, where everyday speeds exceeded 75 miles per hour. Cars like 209 proved to be a huge success in this setting, hauling millions of passengers back and forth between Norristown and 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby (and intermediate stations) for nearly sixty years. The line was purchased by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (Red Arrow Lines), and continues today under SEPTA ownership and with modern cars.

Philadelphia Suburban 07 built by Jewett Car Company in 1911. Originally built as a freight car (similar to PRT F22), Car 07 has enjoyed a long operating history. After Philadelphia & West Chester Traction's freight service ended in 1925, 07 was converted to an overhead line car. This is a car that allowed workers standing on a roof-mounted platform to replace or adjust the overhead wire that carries the electrical current needed to power the trolleys. Car 07 remained in service with the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (Red Arrow Lines) and its successor SEPTA into 1992 - a total of 81 years. We know of no other trolley vehicle on any other property that had that longevity!

Johnstown Traction Company 350 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1926. Johnstown is a medium-sized city whose economy relied heavily on the steel industry. The nature of that business, with its large number of employees changing shifts three times daily, was a ready-made market for the Johnstown Traction Company (JTC), who found it profitable to maintain streetcar operations long after most cities had gone over to buses. JTC even purchased streamlined PCC cars in 1947, the smallest U.S. city to do so.

By 1959, the steel industry was suffering and the transit company was reducing its costs accordingly by initiating conversion of its lines to trackless trolleys (electric buses). A number of cars of the 350 series still serviceable on the system and frequently operated on excursions for streetcar enthusiasts like the early volunteers who established this museum. These "fantrips" provided fund raising that helped establish a few trolley museums. Because of this, several cars found their way to museum operation with the first of them preserved here in September 1959.

Car 350 is a perfect "time warp," as it remains in virtually the same condition as it was in its last days of service in Johnstown. In June 2004, it was placed on trucks from Pittsburgh for the trip to the newly-built trolley display building. Plans for the future are to re-gauge the original trucks so that the car may operate on the museum's demonstration railway.

City of Philadelphia/Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 606 built by The Budd Company in 1960. America's largest cities employ subways and elevated railways to get transit vehicles off the streets and provide true rapid transit. Philadelphia's Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated line was such a facility, built in stages between 1903 and 1922. Car 606 is one of the single unit stainless steel cars built in 1960 to replace all of the original equipment on the wide gauge Market-Frankford line. The fleet consisted of over 200 cars with the 600 series being built to run as single units and the 700 and 800 series in permanently coupled pairs. The cars were owned throughout its service life by the City of Philadelphia, which donated 606 to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 1998 when the "Almond Joys" (nicknamed because of lumps on the roof) were replaced by new cars featuring air conditioning.

Boston Elevated Railway Company 3618 built by Differential Steel Car Company in 1927 for use in track construction on the streetcar lines of the Boston Elevated Railway in Massachusetts. Its job was to carry ballast to construction sites and then spread the rock on top of the ties so that it can be used to raise and level the track. This hopper dump car is unusual because most electric railway companies used side dump cars for this job. In fact, fewer than ten cars of this type are known to have been built by Difco.

Construction work on trolley lines diminished considerably after the Great Depression, but 3618 remained on as a maintenance car. Because of its low clearance and in spite of its all-metal construction, it was used for emergency overhead wire work in the trolley subway in Boston. Its last use was in 1959 when a portion of the Boston and Albany Railroad was converted for use as a streetcar line.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum snow sweeper 4, ex. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 4 1970-1988, exx. Philadelphia Suburban Transportation 4 1936-1970, nee Philadelphia and West Chester 4 1922-1936 built by McGuire-Cummings in 1922. It was purchased following the terrible winter weather that befell southeastern Pennsylvania in January 1922 when passengers were left stranded along the West Chester line for up to 20 hours while traction crews worked to open the line. The lack of robust snow fighting equipment prompted this car's purchase.

Cincinnati Street Railway 2227 built by Cincinnati Car Company in 1919. Car 2227 represents the standard design used for Cincinnati streetcars built between 1911 and 1920. PTM acquired 2227 from the Lake Shore Electric Railway Museum in Cleveland (successor to Trolleyville, USA), where 2227 had been operated, displayed and restored for many years. Car 2227 was originally preserved by a group of rail enthusiasts in the Cincinnati area.

In 1919, the Cincinnati Traction Company placed an order with the Cincinnati Car Company for 105 double truck closed deck roof cars to be numbered 2200 through 2304. Car 2227, one from this order, was in service for most of the time until abandonment of all streetcar operations in Cincinnati on April 29, 1951. This series of two-man cars served on the heaviest of the lines, including route 31-Crosstown, with its close headway, heavy loads, and operation on the steep hills of the city.

For years, it worked out of the Eighth Street car house until early in World War II, when it was moved to the Vine Street car house and operated on route 78. It was returned to Eighth Street after the War and again operated on route 31 until that route's conversion to trolley bus on April 11, 1948. Shortly thereafter, at Winton Place shops, 2227 was converted to a sand car, renumbered S-223, and was stabled at Hyde Park car house until abandonment of the streetcar lines operating from there. It was then stored at Winton shops until after abandonment of all streetcar service in the city.

West Penn Railways boxcab locomotive 1 built by the company in 1915. It has the distinction of being the last car of the extensive West Penn Railways system to operate under West Penn ownership. During its 41 years in operation, Number one was used to shift railroad freight cars at West Penn's main shop, car barn and operations center in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Originally built as a standard railroad gauge unit, it was soon converted to wide gauge of five foot-two and one-half inches to match that of the streetcar system. Switching railroad equipment thus required the use of three rail or dual-gauge trackage with a rail common rail and a rail for each gauge.

Pittsburgh Railways M551 is one of six such cars built for the Pittsburgh Railways Company in 1922 by the Differential Steel Car Company of Findlay, Ohio. When purchased, it became part of a fleet of eleven side dump cars owned by Pittsburgh Railways Company, and it represents one of the most common types of work cars used by streetcar companies in North America. For Pittsburgh Railways, the side dump car was a natural because the topography of the Steel City provided many instances where embankments along hillsides and streams often required filling-in after landslides or washouts. This need, coupled with the task of removing cinders from the main power station on Brunot’s Island provided these rugged cars with plenty of work for many years.

Over-the-road trucks ultimately replaced dump cars. By the early 1960s, maintenance of just a few isolated areas along the Library and Drake lines had reduced the need for dump cars to just one. In 1977, Port Authority Transit shop crews rebuilt M551 with new cab ends. The car was ultimately retired in 1984 when new equipment obtained for the light rail system rendered it surplus. Today, M551 performs the work it was designed to do at the museum, delivering ballast to track work areas and filling washout areas on our line, most recently after Hurricane Ivan washed out parts of the roadbed in September 2004.

Pittsburgh Railways Company streetcar 4145 built by Pressed Steel Car Company in 1911, part of the last order of high floor cars built for use on the Pittsburgh Railways Company lines. These big heavy cars were designed to pull double truck low-floor trailers and served Pittsburgh Railway's busiest routes. Car 4145 entered service on November 25, 1911 and operated into the late 1930's when delivery of the first PCC cars rendered cars of this type surplus. Because of their heavy construction, the Pittsburgh Railways converted about a dozen 4000s and 4100 for use as snow scraping and towing cars in 1940. At this time 4145 was renumbered M459 and placed into service as a snow scraper, serving in this capacity until the closing of the Craft Avenue car house in 1967 when it was declared surplus and placed on the scrap list.

Fortunately, a transportation museum in north central Pennsylvania was initiating trolley operation as part of their attraction and the car was acquired and moved to The Magee Museum of Transportation in Bloomsburg in 1968. There, Edward Blossom and his restoration team took the car and transformed it back into an operating passenger car to supplement their open car operation. Misfortune struck this museum in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes spawned storms in the northeastern United States that inundated the museum destroying the streetcar line and soaking their entire collection of transportation artifacts including 4145. In 1973, the museum was disbanded and the collection was sold to the highest bidders.

It was at this time that Gerald Brookins purchased 4145 for his private "Trolleyville" operation near North Olmstead, Ohio where streetcars were operated through a modern mobile home community that was dedicated to housing senior citizens. Trolleyville was successful through 2003 when the family of Mr. Brookins sold the property and formed a non-profit group to preserve the cars in the Cleveland area. At this time 4145, was moved to a lake front location near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where the cars were placed on display pending construction of a museum building and re-opening operations along the Cleveland RTA's Waterfront light rail line.

In 2009, without sufficient financing, the museum reverted to Brookins Family ownership and a consortium of electric railway museums put together a plan that saw the collection disbanded to the various groups. At this time the generosity of PTM volunteer David Carpenter provided funding for this car to come to Arden for restoration as a wide-gauge operating exhibit, retaining all of the beautiful work done in Bloomsburg forty years earlier. In 2010 the generosity of museum volunteer and member Fred Sauerburger provided funding for the complete rebuilding of the cars trucks and running gear.

With this, PTM shop volunteers, working in conjunction with Lyons Industries in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, rebuilt the trucks and returned them to the proper broad gauge so that the car could again operate on its home track at the museum. The car was officially rolled out on its 100th Birthday, November 25, 2011, with Santa Claus on board and Dave Carpenter at the helm.

We went outside for a ride, met a couple of volunteers and talked with them.

Pittsburgh Railways Company streetcar 4398 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1917. For more than 40 years, the trademark of the Pittsburgh Railways system was the "yellow car." In the years from 1910 until 1926, more than 1,000 cars of this type were built for service in Pittsburgh. Of those cars, only two survive today here at the museum. These cars are technically known as the P.N. Jones low floor car, after the Pittsburgh Railways General Manager who urged his former colleagues at Westinghouse Electric Company to develop smaller motors that would fit on the wheelsets of a car having 25" wheels. This significant development permitted Jones (and all that followed) to engineer a car with fewer steps for passengers getting on and off the car. This in turn speeded the loading and unloading of the car, reducing accidents and decreasing running times.

Because of Jones' pioneering effort, thousands of low-floor cars were ultimately built for systems throughout North America. Pittsburgh Railways had 1,056 yellow cars, built to the same basic design by a variety of builders. Pittsburgh Railways 4398 is an example of the double-ended low floor car. Cars of this type need no loop track on which to turn around at the end of the line. In reversing a double-ended car, the operator places the trolley pole on the wire at what has been the front, picks up his control handles, changer, fare box, cash box, cap, lunch, transfers, etc. and carries it all to the other end of the car. There he replaces all the moveable parts on their mounts, pulls down the trolley pole at that end, and is ready to return.

In the early days, most streetcars were double-ended. In later years, operational efficiency relegated most double-ended cars to short shuttle or "dinky" lines, which connected with through-routes to downtown. Today, many of the new light rail operations, including the one in Pittsburgh, have rediscovered the flexibility of double-ended equipment.

We started our ride in Car 1778, passing the building in which we had just been.

The streetcars operate over these tracks surrounded by bricks.

The interior of our streetcar.

The total number of passengers and the passenger count for this trip.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum boxcab diesel B73, ex. American Rolling Mills Company B73, nee American Steel and Wire Division of United Steel 1 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works/Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1930. Newer and larger diesels sidelined B73 in 1965 and in 1970, ARMCO donated the unit to the museum after generously rebuilding the trucks with new wheels. It remains in operating condition and is used occasionally to shift our standard gauge rolling stock and can also be used to power the trolleys during long outages.

Port Authority Transit PCC car 4004 built by St. Louis Car company in 1949 and rebuilt by Port Authority of Allegheny County in 1988. When some of Pittsburgh's South Hills trolley lines were being upgraded to light rail standards and new equipment was being purchased, the Port Authority undertook a program to remanufacture 1949-vintage PCC cars for use on the Library and Overbrook routes. At the time these lines were not being rebuilt and required operation using the smaller lighter cars traditionally used on these lines. Originally slated to include 45 cars, the program ended with only a dozen rebuilds, due to cost realities. Those that were finished, however, were essentially new cars, with all-new electrical and running gear of the type and style that they were originally equipped.

A non-operating lighthouse on the way to the Fairgrounds.

On the way to the turning loop.

The parking lot for the Fairgrounds.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum 25 ton switcher 89 built by General Electric in 1953. Originally built to switch railroad freight cars at an industrial plant in Eastern Pennsylvania, it is undergoing a conversion to match the broad gauge track width used by the museum's demonstration railway. When completed, it will service PTM as our shop switcher, to move equipment in and out of the repair and restoration shop, as a rescue locomotive should a trolley be stranded out on the line by any sort of electrical problem, and as a snowplow to clear the trackage for winter operations.

The Wexford station which started life after construction of the Pittsburgh Harmony Butler & New Castle Railway in 1908. It is a wooden interurban trolley station that originally served trolley passengers, and later postal and deli customers. Its interesting history includes the 23 years it was used as a freight/passenger station for the Harmony Route, its relocation to the corner of Wexford-Bayne Road and Old Perry Highway in the village of Wexford in 1931, and its 83 years' use as a post office, antique store, craft shop and deli. The exhibit includes the details of the building’s relocation to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 2015.

The Wexford station building is remarkably well-preserved and tells the fascinating story of interurban trolley service from Pittsburgh into the North Hills and nearby towns such as Evan City, Butler, Harmony, Zelienople, Ellwood City, Beaver Falls and New Castle, where it connected to systems reaching Youngstown, Cleveland and Toledo.

The next trolley to ride was Car 4398, which would take us to the old parking lot on the east side of their property.

A clock tower and landscaping near the museum building which had been completed and opened in November 2023.

The interior of car 4398.

Another passenger counter. After our ride and while I was photographing interior displays, Greg and Marty Smith arrived, having been delayed.

The Downfall of The Trolley era.

Trolley models and End of an Era and Light Rail.

Toonerville Trolley and displays.

Trolley in Popular Culture.

A Short-Lived Revival.

High-Floor to Low-Floor.

Minorities in Transit.

Anna Nixon's uniform.

Women In Transit.

Moving Stuff and People.

It's Electrifying - The Boom of the Trolley Era.

Cable Cars and Inclines.

From Roads to Rails - Horsecars Spark an Industry.

Tools of the Trade.

Bells and Horn Signals.

Power Lines and Voltage Loss.

Reaction Time.

The Rolling Melting Pot.

Out of the Mud.

Pennsylvania Trolley Company and other trolley company emblems.

Trolley Advertising.

Trolley Company Logos.

A Pennsylvania electric mascot.

Transit Maps.

South Eastern Pennsylvanian Transit Authority map.

Port Authority Map New York.

SEPTA Broad Street Line.

Pittsburgh Light Rail map.

Map of Pennsylvania.

Major stops on trolley routes.

Along The Rails.

Vintage Lionel train cars donated to the museum.

Tickets and Museum History.

Car Stop signs.

Museum memorabilia.

Car House Chartered.

Destination signs.

Traction books.

Roll Signs.

Pittsburgh and Mr. Rogers.

Last Chance Trolley, a film that was being shown in the museum's theatre.

Tokens of our Appreciation.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum plaque dedicated to the volunteers and supporters on the 80th anniversary of the museum's first day of public operation.

The trolley simulator.

City-Bound Cars and the clock from the Pennsylvania station in Pittsburgh. We bought the museum's guidebook then the four of us chatted with the volunteers for a few minutes before they closed.

Greg and Marty, who live in California, followed us to Bob Evans and they enjoyed their first meal in this Midwest chain restaurant, then followed us to the Holiday Inn Express in Washington for the night.

9/3/2024 The next morning, we said our goodbyes to Greg and Marty, who were staying in the state for a couple more days then Elizabeth and I had breakfast at the Waffle House and I drove us to Columbus, Ohio where Elizabeth led me to the station.

The historic sign for the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad station built in 1895.

The station's unique tower.

The west side on the building.

The railroad's name, Ohio Central, is prominent at the base of the tower.

The station from various angles.

National Register of Historic Places plaque. Elizabeth then drove us to Indianapolis where we had dinner at Jersey Mike's before we checked in to the Best Western Plus for the night.

9/4/2024 Following our Internet duties, we checked out and I drove us to Denny's, where we had a great breakfast then continued on into Illinois and stopped at a rest area where we switched drivers and she drove the rest of the way home, ending another fantastic NRHS convention adventure.

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