Connecticut Trolley Museum facts for kids
A New Orleans streetcar stops at the Isle of Safety (originally at State St, Hartford).
|
|
| Established | 1940 |
|---|---|
| Location | 58 North Road East Windsor, Connecticut |
| Type | Railroad museum |
The Connecticut Trolley Museum, also known as the Warehouse Point Trolley Museum, is a special place where you can learn all about electric trolleys! It's the oldest museum in the United States that focuses on electric railroads.
The museum first opened in October 1940. It is located in East Windsor, Connecticut. You can visit the museum from February through December. It has many trolleys you can see up close. Some trolleys even move! You can take self-guided tours to explore the history of trolleys in Connecticut.
Right next to the trolley museum, you'll also find the Connecticut Fire Museum. This museum shows off old fire trucks and buses.
Contents
Ride a Historic Trolley!
The museum has a special "heritage railroad." This means they use an old train track for fun rides. The track is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. It was once part of the Hartford and Springfield Street Railway Company's Rockville Branch.
The Rockville Branch Story
The Rockville Branch was a trolley line that started at the Main Fish Market. It stretched 17.5 miles (28.2 km) to Rockville, Connecticut. This trolley line was very important. Factory workers, tourists, and high school students all used it. Trolleys were a great way to travel back then. They were more direct and could carry more people than the few buses available.
The line also went to Piney Ridge, an amusement park. This park was located between Broad Brook and East Windsor. Many trolley companies built parks like Piney Ridge. They wanted to encourage people to ride their trolleys on Sundays. This helped them earn more money.
Fun at Piney Ridge
Piney Ridge was a cool place! It had a big pipe organ and a dance floor. The dance floor was even built on trolley springs! This made dancing easier on people's knees. The park also had a baseball field. Famous baseball players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig even played games there!
Sadly, the Hartford and Springfield company faced money problems. They eventually went out of business. Their old streetcars were taken to Piney Ridge and taken apart for scrap. By 1926, the trolley tracks were gone, and so was the Rockville Branch.
Bringing Trolleys Back to Life
It took 14 years for trolleys to return to the area. In 1940, the Connecticut Electric Railway Association was formed. They started working to bring the old trolley line back to life.
Today, when you visit the museum, your admission includes unlimited rides on the trolleys! The museum usually runs at least two different cars each day. Sometimes, they even rotate three or four cars. This gives visitors a chance to ride many different kinds of streetcars and interurbans (trolleys that traveled between towns).
Explore the Trolley Collection
The Connecticut Trolley Museum has a huge collection of equipment. These trolleys help tell the story of the "trolley era." They show how trolleys changed society. Most of the trolleys are kept safe in special buildings called car barns. Some are in the Visitor Center or the car shop. There's even an outdoor track that goes into the woods!
Trolleys You Can Ride
When the museum is open, you can often ride one or more of these cool trolleys:
- Montreal Tramways sightseeing car 4
- Springfield Terminal combine car 16
- New Orleans Public Service closed car 836
- Fair Haven and Westville Railroad open air car 355
- Boston Elevated Railway Type 5 car 5645
- Connecticut Company closed car 1326
Trolleys Being Restored
The museum also has a restoration shop. Here, skilled workers fix up old trolleys to make them look new again. They are currently working on these cars:
- Connecticut Company Birney Safety car (double truck) 3001
- Nassau (New York) Electric Railway car 169
- Oshawa Railway steeplecab 18
- Iowa Southern Utilities Co. line car 1
- Northern Ohio Traction & Light Co executive car 1500
- Boston Elevated Railway PCC 3100
- New Jersey Transit PCC 15 (Cosmetic restoration)
Trolleys on Display
The Main Hall of the Visitor Center has a special exhibit. It shows how trolleys developed and their impact on society. You can see these trolleys on display there:
- Northern Ohio Traction and Light parlor car 1500
- Illinois Terminal PCC 451
- Springfield Electric Railway combine car 10
- Five Mile Beach Electric Railway car 36
- Ponemah Mills Locomotive 1386
- Shaker Heights Rapid Transit car 1201
- Montreal Tramways car 2056
- Fair Haven and Westville car 154
For a complete list of all the trolleys in their collection, you can visit their website here.
