Seashore trolley museum free#

Enjoy our beautiful grounds and picnic areas. We carry a wide variety of transit themed clothing, games, puzzles, books and other souvenirs to purchase for yourself or as a gift for a special person. If you would like a snack or to shop for a memento of your visit, stop in at the Museum Store. Visit our Restoration Shop where you can view many cars in the process of maintenance or comprehensive restoration. From the omnibus, to electric streetcars, buses, light rail vehicles, and rapid transit cars, we’ve got them all. Our world-renowned collection includes vehicles from almost every major city in the United States that had streetcar systems, as well as from across the world. Explore three carhouses filled with beautiful, restored trolleys and several other precious transit artifacts around our outdoor campus. Take a ride on our heritage railroad in a vintage trolley from the early 1900s. Check out our Calendar of Events or book your tickets in advance of your visit.Īs the first and largest Electric Railway Museum in the world, our guests learn about and gain a new appreciation for the role public transportation has played throughout history. 203 as a rapid transit car in its accession number, but, in some cases, Seashore considers it an interurban car.Seashore Trolley Museum is open for the 2022 season! We are open every Wednesday through Sunday through Halloween. 205, is in operation at the Rockhill Trolley Museum at Rockhill furnace, PA. 203 on display for a few years at the museum entrance on Log Cabin Road. In 1996 Seashore did a cosmetic restoration and reapplied the SEPTA paint scheme. 203 was still partially disassembled when Seashore acquired the car. 203 to its Woodland Overhaul Facility for structural repairs. 207 had been wrecked and was acquired for parts. The cars’ route has some characteristics of a rapid transit line, but, if considered an interurban, the line joins the Chicago South Shore & South Bend as the nation’s only surviving interurbans, due in large part to the success of the “bullet” cars.Īt their retirement in 1991, Seashore purchased at auction three “bullet” cars: No.

In 1991, SEPTA finally retired the “bullet” cars after a remarkable 60 years in service (58 years for No.

In 1987, SEPTA began replacing “bullet” car service with used rapid transit cars from Chicago. In 1970, the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a state agency, acquired the PSTC and repainted the “bullet” cars into SEPTA’s scheme of white with orange and blue stripes. In 1963, the PSTC acquired the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee’s two Electroliner streamliners to supplement the “bullet” cars on the Norristown line. The PSTC, known as the “Red Arrow” Lines, operated trolley lines out of the same 69th Street terminal to other Philadelphia suburbs. In 1948, the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. Brill quickly replaced the car with a new car, also numbered 203, but built of steel. The P&W painted its “bullet” cars dark red with gold lettering and ran them exclusively on the Norristown line. Brill hoped the “bullet” car would modernize and save the remaining interurban industry, but Brill sold only five other cars, to New York’s Fonda Johnstown & Gloversville Ry. This design predated the first steam railroad streamliners by several years and foreshadowed the streamline style that became popular for many products later in the 1930s. These were the first streamlined electric cars in the U.S., the first all-aluminum cars and the first to have used extensive wind tunnel tests. The “bullet” cars cut power costs by 43% and reduced the running time on the Norristown line from 24 minutes to 17 minutes. In 1931, Brill built 10 “bullet” cars, Nos.

Seashore trolley museum free#

The result was a streamlined, lightweight, all-aluminum “bullet” car with a low roof and free of clutter. To design a vehicle with reduced wind resistance, Conway and Brill hired a University of Michigan aeronautics professor to test models in a wind tunnel. Brill Company to design new equipment that would improve service and reduce costs. who had just revitalized the Cincinnati & Lake Erie interurban.

In 1930, the P&W responded to a sharp drop in revenues by turning management over to Dr. to Norristown route became the main line and connected at Norristown with the Lehigh Valley Transit’s interurban line to Allentown. In 1912, the P&W opened a branch from Villanova to Norristown. At 69th St., on the western boundary of Philadelphia, the P&W connected with the Philadelphia Rapid Transit’s elevated line to center city Philadelphia. began operating in 1907 with an 11-mile, third-rail powered line from 69th Street in Upper Darby, PA to Strafford, PA.