Baltimore Streetcar Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Baltimore Streetcar Museum

An 1896 open car in operation at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum
Established	June 8, 1966; 59 years ago (1966-06-08)
Location	1911 Falls Road, Baltimore, Maryland, 21211
Key holdings	Operating streetcars

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum (BSM) is a special place in Baltimore, Maryland. It's a nonprofit museum that works to save and share the history of public transportation in Baltimore. They especially focus on the exciting time when streetcars were a main way to get around the city. You can find the museum at 1911 Falls Road.

Explore the Museum: What You Can See

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum has many cool things to see and do. You can even ride some of the old streetcars!

Ride a Piece of History: Operating Streetcars

When the museum is open to the public, visitors can take rides on different old streetcars. Each car has its own story!

Car #264: A Ride from 1900

This streetcar was built in 1900 by the Brownell Car Company. It's a special convertible model. This car uses hand brakes only, just like they did over 120 years ago!

Car #4533: The Rebuilt Wonder

Built in 1904 by J. G. Brill Company, this car has been rebuilt several times. It started as a two-man car with hand brakes. Later, it was changed to a one-man safety car. It even served as a testing car for a while! The museum has restored it to look like it did in 1924.

Car #6119: The Peter Witt Car

This Peter Witt streetcar was built in 1930 by J. G. Brill Company. It was a very advanced car for its time. It was used for regular service until 1955.

Car #7407: The Last Ride

This PCC streetcar was built in 1944 by the Pullman Company. It's very special because it was the very last streetcar to carry passengers for the Baltimore Transit Company. That happened on November 3, 1963. Today, it's the only Pullman PCC car that regularly operates in any museum!

Car #2168: From Philadelphia to Baltimore

SEPTA PCC streetcar #2168 running on Museum tracks in 2019

This SEPTA PCC streetcar came from Philadelphia. It was built in 1947 by the St. Louis Car Co.. It served in Philadelphia until 1992. The museum started using it in September 2009.

Car #1164: Under Restoration

This open streetcar, with 12 benches, was built in 1902 by J. G. Brill Company. It also uses hand brakes. As of winter 2018, this car was being restored. It returned to service in summer 2020.

Car #554: A Summer Favorite

Built in 1896 by the Brownell Car Company, this car is an open summer car with 9 benches. It also uses hand brakes. A big five-year restoration project on this car was finished in the summer of 2018.

Car #417: America's Oldest Operating Electric Streetcar

This amazing car started as a horse car! It was built by the Baltimore City Passenger Railway. Later, it was rebuilt into a cable car trailer, and then into an electric car in 1895. This car is the museum's newest restoration. It runs on special days and is believed to be the oldest operating electric streetcar in America!

Santa's Streetcar: A Holiday Treat

Every December, the museum hosts a fun event called "Santa's Streetcar." For two weekends, one of the streetcars is decorated for Christmas. Santa Claus is there to greet children, making it a festive ride!

Behind the Scenes: The Machine Shop

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum has one of the biggest and best-equipped machine shops among streetcar museums in the United States. They can even make custom parts for their own streetcars and for other museums!

Discover More: The Library Collection

The museum also has a large library. It holds collections from the Baltimore Streetcar Museum and the National Railway Historical Society (Baltimore Chapter). This library is also known as the Maryland Rail Heritage Library. It's a great place to learn more about trains and streetcars.

More Information Online

You can find more detailed information about the museum's streetcars and vehicles that are waiting to be restored on their website. They also show pictures of old streetcar locations around Baltimore.

Meet the Team: Volunteer Staff

The people who operate the streetcars at the museum are all volunteers! They are members of the museum who love streetcars. The museum provides special training for them. This training program takes eleven weeks. If you're interested in volunteering, they announce new training opportunities in the museum's newsletter.

Host Your Event: Museum Rentals

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum is a cool place to have private parties. Their Visitor Center has an auditorium called the "Trolley Theatre." Guests can also enjoy streetcar rides and tours of the carhouse. In the carhouse, you can see other old transit vehicles, like a horse car from 1859, a crane car, and an electric bus called a trackless trolley or trolleybus.

The Museum's Journey: History

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum started as a nonprofit organization on June 8, 1966. It was founded by members of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society. The City of Baltimore agreed to build the museum and let the nonprofit group use it for just one dollar a year! The building started on November 4, 1967, and the museum officially opened on August 30, 1968.

The museum's first collection included equipment from the old United Railways and Electric Company and Baltimore Transit Company. This equipment was moved from what was then Robert E. Lee Park in 1968 to the current location on Falls Road. Public rides began in July 1970. Before rides could start, volunteers worked many hours to build the tracks and install the overhead wires. At first, the ride was quite short.

Over the years, the museum has slowly made its track longer along Falls Road. Now, it has turning loops at both ends of its line. The entire streetcar line was finished in October 2008. This included a big project to add a double track, which took many years to complete. The museum still uses the unique 5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in (1,638 mm) track gauge that the original Baltimore streetcar lines used.

Streetcar Service and Connections

The track at the museum is recognized by the Maryland Transit Administration as LocalLink 25. Long ago, the United Railways and Electric Company had a Route 25 line on Falls Road, which passed by the museum's current location.

See also

• National Capital Trolley Museum (in Silver Spring, Maryland)
• Baltimore City Passenger Railway
• Baltimore Light RailLink
• History of MTA Maryland
• United Railways and Electric Company