Trolley Museum of New York

The Trolley Museum of New York, a non-profit organization, is located at 89 East Strand, Kingston, New York. The museum is open to the public on a seasonal schedule, but volunteer activities relating to the preservation of historic transit are year-round.

History

The museum was founded in 1955 in Brooklyn to save some of the last trolley cars still in New York City. During the early years of the museum's existence, it had no permanent home. The growing collection of trolley and subway cars were stored in various locations, such as Staten Island and northern New Jersey. On a few occasions until the city took down the last of the overhead wire in the early 1960s, the museum operated a Swedish trolley car on McDonald Avenue, Brooklyn. The museum also held movie nights for members in a Peter Witt streetcar at St. George, Staten Island.

In 1983 the museum finally found a permanent home in Kingston, occupying the abandoned Rondout shops area, MP 1, of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D). As a condition of the museum's charter with the city of Kingston, the museum had to immediately begin public operations. At the time, everything in the museum collection was electric powered and the U&D tracks were not equipped for electric operation. The museum acquired a Doodlebug (a former Sperry Rail Service car) from Connecticut and began public operation on July 4, 1983. At first, less than a mile of track was usable, but within two years the run was extended to Kingston Point to provide scenic views of the Hudson River.

The Museum leases from the City of Kingston the former U&D line from Kingston Point, MP 0, to 100 feet west of East Chester Street, MP 2.4. Current operations are from the Museum's headquarters at MP 1 to Kingston Point, and also along former branch trackage along The Strand. The line is used occasionally up to Murray Street, MP 1.7.

In 2000 the museum began operating a trolley from Johnstown, Pennsylvania after a nine year restoration.

Collection

Unique historic cars in the collection:

• Brooklyn & Queens #1000 -- the only PCC streetcar built by Clark Equipment; only PCC with aluminum body
• A/S Holmenkolbanen (Oslo, Norway) #3 -- used by the King of Norway

The 1 of 2 Story

The museum by chance has several cars that are one of two of their type:

• Hamburg 3584 -- One of two cars of this class imported to the United States (the other is in San Francisco)
• Brill 120 -- One of two former Sperry Rail Service Model 55 Brill cars, also ex. Remington Arms (the other is at the Belvidere and Delaware River Railway).
• Brooklyn & Queens 8361 -- one of two surviving Peter Witt streetcars from B&QT (the other is at the Shore Line Trolley Museum)
• Brooklyn & Queens 1000 -- one of two surviving PCCs from New York City (1000 also has the unique characteristics mentioned above--the other PCC is at the Shore Line Trolley Museum)

External links

• Trolley Museum of New York