Shore Line Trolley Museum facts for kids
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| Location | 17 River Street East Haven, Connecticut |
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| Type | Trolley History |
The Shore Line Trolley Museum is a cool place in East Haven, Connecticut, where you can learn all about trolleys! It's the oldest trolley museum in the United States that has been open non-stop. The museum officially started in 1945.
At the museum, you can see exhibits about trolley history. You can also ride on old, fixed-up trolleys along a 1.5-mile track. This track is part of what's called the Branford Electric Railway. Besides trolleys, the museum also has restored subway cars and a few trolleybuses and regular buses. The museum area is so important that it's even listed as a historic place!
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A Journey Through Trolley History
The museum officially started in August 1945. It was known as the Branford Electric Railway Association (BERA). This group was a non-profit organization focused on history and education.
Saving the Trolley Line
The Connecticut Company, or ConnCo, used to run most of the streetcar lines in Connecticut. By the early 1930s, they planned to close their "F" route. This route was slowly shortened until it ended in Short Beach by April 1946.
The very last trolley car run by ConnCo left Short Beach just after midnight on March 8, 1947. Right after that, BERA took over the last 1.5 miles of the line. This part of the track was on private land between East Haven and Short Beach.
Over the next year, the museum moved almost all its collection onto its new property. This included many streetcars that ConnCo had just stopped using. They used the existing track connection that was still powered by electricity.
Growing the Museum
In 1948, ConnCo removed the track connection. This meant BERA was on its own. The 1.5-mile line originally had two tracks. However, one of the tracks was taken up and sold for scrap metal. This helped the museum raise money.
Later, the museum sold special bonds to get more funds, and things started to get better. In 1957, a new visitor's center was built. It was named Sprague Station, after a famous trolley inventor named Frank Julian Sprague. His widow helped donate money for the brick building.
Over the years, BERA's collection has grown a lot. It is now the third largest collection of electric railway equipment in North America. The museum mainly focuses on equipment from Connecticut and New York City. Volunteers do most of the work at the Shore Line Trolley Museum. They also fix and restore old equipment.
Facing the Storm: Hurricane Irene
In August 2011, Hurricane Irene caused the worst flooding the museum had ever seen. Water was up to 2 feet deep across the grounds. Almost 90 streetcars were damaged.
The damaged part of the streetcar line was fixed and reopened in May 2012. However, fixing all the damaged streetcars took much longer.
New Trolleybus Adventures
The museum also has a few "trackless trolleys" (trolley buses) and regular buses. In 2008, they started building a short trolley bus line. This line is a loop about 750 feet long. It also has a branch that goes into the maintenance building.
The first part of the line was tested in April 2009. A 1947 ACF-Brill trolley bus, number 205, was used for the test. This bus came from the Philadelphia trolley bus system. Building the line was about 70% done by mid-2011. But then Hurricane Irene hit, and work had to stop to deal with the flood damage.
Construction started again later, and the trolley bus line was finished in 2017. Regular rides for the public haven't started yet. This is because the vehicles need more work, like painting, before they are ready. The museum also has two other trolley buses. One is a 1976 Flyer E800 from Boston, which they hope to get working again. The other is another Philadelphia bus, number 210, which is used for parts to fix bus 205.
Amazing Trolleys and Trains to See
The Shore Line Trolley Museum has many special vehicles. Here are some of the highlights:
- Horsecar 76: This is thought to be the oldest preserved horse-drawn tram in the world.
- New Orleans St. Charles Avenue Street car 850: This is one of the last three 800-series cars still around. It was built in 1922.
- Connecticut Company 500: This was a very fancy business car used by ConnCo.
- Manhattan Railway "G": This is the oldest preserved rapid transit (subway) car in the United States. It was built in 1878.
- Interborough Rapid Transit 3344 "Mineola": This was the personal private car of August Belmont, Jr., who was the president of New York's first subway company.
- Ansonia Derby & Birmingham "Derby": This is the oldest electric locomotive that still exists. It's also the only Van De Poele motor preserved.
- Brooklyn and Queens Transit 1001: This was the very first PCC streetcar ever built.
- Third Avenue Railway System 220: This is the oldest operating streetcar in the United States. It was built in 1892.
- Hudson and Manhattan 503: This is the only restored H&M "black car."
- PATH PA3 745: This car survived the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
- NYCTA R17 6688: This subway car was used in the movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
- IND R9 1689: This was one of the first R1-9 subway cars used by the Independent Subway System.
See also
