Larissa Gula

2024 is a big year for the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM). We turned 70 this year! Members and volunteers celebrated our specific founding date back in February and attended a special Trolleyology focused on the story of the PTM to mark the occasion.

In honor of this big milestone, we’re continuing to look back at our history through the decades. Our first post reflected on the 1940s and 1950s; and our second on the 1960s and 1970s. Today, we’re continuing our journey and remembering the 1980s and 1990s!

The 1980s – Moving Up The Arden Valley

Slow But Steady Expansion

Our look back at the 1960s and 1970s highlighted how construction of the first segment of the Arden Valley track extension started in the spring of 1979; and that this project included work on the grade crossing at North Main Street. As was usually the case during these (relatively early) days, work on this extension depended on our volunteer’s time and available funding. 

A huge boost to this effort came in the fall of 1980 when a grant from the Allegheny Foundation provided funding for two key things: grading the right of way, and purchasing track and overhead materials. The Arden Trolley Museum’s (ATM) first order of business was to construct a bridge at the Fairgrounds stop. The next order of improvement at the new stop was to construct a siding and platform.

After building that first Fairgrounds stop and platform, track extensions continued up Arden Valley slowly but steadily thanks to volunteers; and the line reached the cut near Yanavich stop by the end of the decade.

A look at the Yanavich stop circa 2018

Car 5 sits at the Washington County Fairgrounds platform as volunteers take it for a test run not long after its arrival.

More Acquisitions (Especially from Philadelphia!)

Many trolleys found a new home at the ATM during the decade, including multiple historic streetcars retired from the former Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. lines in Philadelphia (more commonly known as the Red Arrow lines).

Acquiring Red Arrow cars as they became available was especially important to our early members and volunteers. In 1982 they orchestrated an extensive written appeal to lawmakers, asking for an opportunity to save the retiring cars at a nominal cost in the interest of preserving state history. The effort received the support and backing of State Representative (and later Senator) J. Barry Stout and several of his associates.

The following cars came to the ATM during the decade:

• Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company Refrigerated Milk Car F22 arrived in February 1982, after spending 30 years as a trash collection vehicle on the Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated line.
• Thanks to the campaign orchestrated by volunteers, three cars were acquired within three months of each other in the fall and winter months of 1982: Philadelphia & West Chester Traction 78, Red Arrow Lines 5, and Red Arrow Lines 14. All three cars arrived in SEPTA’s 1970s “Gulf Oil” paint scheme. (Today, only car 5 sports that paint scheme, as 78 and 14 have been restored to Red Arrow colors.)

• Red Arrow Lines 24 also joined our growing collection in 1983, thanks to the foresight of a volunteer who saw the benefit of having cars capable of running in a two-car train. (Today 14 and 24 operate as a multiple-unit train during special events!)

• In 1984, Port Authority Transit retired Pittsburgh Railways M551 from service, allowing us to acquire this very useful work car for our own use.

• Pittsburgh Harmony Butler & New Castle Railway 115 joined the collection in 1986. This car’s body had survived by being repurposed into a diner; and so had to be extracted from a restaurant to make the journey to Arden.

• Though primarily focused on preserving Pennsylvania cars, ATM next brought in Shaker Heights Rapid Transit 94 in 1897. 94 is the only Pullman-built PCC car in our collection and is our only PCC with General Electric control.

• In 1988 we welcomed home Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Sweeper 04 (which was put to use clearing snow in the following decade) and Pittsburgh Railways M283 (which has proven to be an indispensable tool for developing our museum).

• West Penn Railways 739 arrived in Arden in 1989, after spending 36 years as a home near Jeannette.

While these additions to the collection were exciting and historically significant, their arrival turned attention back to our County Home siding. At this point, the siding was once again full, as we had acquired more cars than could be stored in our car house and shop.

Volunteers began to plan for a large expansion that would address the needs of a growing museum. Land was acquired from the Ruetom Group and Thepitt Manufacturing, thanks to a grant from the Allegheny Foundation; and the purchase set the stage for us to work with professional architects and plan to move our operating center to the new site.

Other Noteworthy Events

In 1986 the Arden Trolley Museum happily hosted that year’s well-attended Association of Railway Museums (ARM) conference.

Pittsburgh Railways 3756 returned to Pittsburgh again on May 22, 1987! This year marked the grand reopening of the South Hills Light Rail line; and so 3756 attended the reopening to provide a historical perspective on the evolution of Pittsburgh transit during this significant development of the system.

Bruce Wells photo

And finally, Santa Claus landed at the Museum for the first time in 1988 – making the upcoming 2024 Santa Trolley event a 36-year-old tradition of ours!

A photo from 1995 shows the early days of this beloved event!

The 1990s – Go East, Trolley Museum!

New Names, New Faces, and New Spaces

By this time in our history, volunteers often discussed renaming the Arden Trolley Museum to better represent the group’s mission and the scale of its collection and artifacts. As a result of these conversations, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) was used as a trade name beginning in 1992; and in 1998 this became our corporate name as well. 

We also hired our first full-time employee during this decade: Scott Becker was hired as our Executive Director in the summer of 1993.

Scott’s first big effort was to coordinate the construction of our west campus Visitor Education Center, which opened in 1994. This Visitor Education Center featured display areas, office space, a meeting room, and space for a larger store. It was our first fully heated and fully air-conditioned facility. In other words: it was much more visitor-friendly. The indoor space also allowed us to start developing proper exhibits, expanding our interpretive efforts and abilities. 

In 1999, our first Educator was hired to ensure the Visitor Education Center was utilized to the fullest. Bringing an Educator onto the team also helped us welcome more school groups and conduct more outreach efforts in the community.

Thanks to the efforts of our new staff and our ever-dedicated volunteers, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum began developing and offering a standard visitor experience during this decade, ensuring that all visitors had guided tours and access to interesting, changing exhibits.

Track Work and Expansions

Future East Campus: In the 1990s our initial plans were coming together for the future East Campus, i.e. our new operating center. Plans included building an even larger visitor center; establishing new display buildings; and adding an eventual second loop in our track.

A great opportunity arose when the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) closed its Overbrook Line in 1993 for complete rebuilding. The PAT board generously allowed the company to donate any historic track, overhead, and signal materials that could be used to the PTM. We just had to dismantle and transport the materials back to Washington. Thanks to many hours of donated time by volunteers – and a grant from the Allegheny Foundation – we successfully relocated the donated materials to our Museum site.

Around this time we also received a federal Transportation Enhancement grant, which would pay for a track extension that would terminate near the old McClane School at the east end of the property.

Arden Loop: With early planning and initial development of the East Campus underway, work on the line continued toward Arden Mines in 1995. Bell of Pennsylvania (now Verizon) generously donated the setting of all the poles from the Yanavich stop to the Arden Mines. After literal years of hard work, the final track extension up the Arden Valley included a turning loop and a dead-end siding, both of which are part of the current Museum line today.

Museum Facilities: The Visitor Education Center wasn’t the only addition to the main Museum campus in the 1990s. The Galbraith Restoration Shop (located directly next to the Center) received a 24 ft x 60 ft heated addition, as well as a new, fully functional trolley maintenance pit. Renovations were also made to our original Car House, and the building was upgraded with indoor lighting to improve the visitor experience.

1711 in service in the 1990s at the Arden Trolley Museum/Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (Bruce Wells photo)

A Range of Collection Additions

The PTM’s collection continued to expand during the 1990s as opportunities arose to bring more streetcars to Washington. Most, but not all, of the cars came from Philadelphia once again:

• Red Arrow Lines 73 was declared surplus by SEPTA and acquired by the PTM in 1990. This acquisition set the stage for a second multiple-unit train in our future.

• PAT retired Pittsburgh Railways Co. 1711 from service in August 1988, and we happily acquired the car in April 1990. This car has since gone through two restorations/rebuilds during its time with us. It’s significant to us because 1711 was the last car to carry regular passengers from Washington to Pittsburgh in 1953.

• SEPTA Norristown Division 209, AKA our Bullet Car, came to us in 1993, ensuring that our collection included a static display of a high-platform rapid transit car.

• A major acquisition was Pittsburgh Railways Line Car M210. M210 was declared surplus in 1995 by PAT and donated to us. M210 replaced PTM’s Line Car 2 (which was converted from a double truck Philadelphia Transportation Company snow sweeper by volunteers in the 1970s in lieu of having M210).

• SEPTA 2723, a post-WWII Philadelphia PCC, also came to our museum in 1995.

• We acquired Philadelphia & West Chester Traction 07 several years after it was retired from service. This car ran under the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (Red Arrow Lines) and its successor SEPTA, and was in service a total of 81 years. We know of no other trolley vehicle on any other property that had that longevity!

• City of Philadelphia/SEPTA 606, an “Almond Joy”, came to us after these models of car were were replaced by newer ones featuring air conditioning. Built in 1960, 606 is currently the newest car in our collection.

• Finally, in 1999 Jersey Shore & Antes Fort Railroad 3 was donated to the PTM, joining our “lived in” fleet.

A Noteworthy Event & Connection to Another Pittsburgh Museum

In 1995, before going on display at the Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh Railways Co. PCC 1724 made a stop at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum!

After being cosmetically restored at Barr-Cannon Body Co., the car was brought to our museum; towed around our recently finished track loop; and reloaded for transport. This way, the car would roll out into its new display facing the right direction. 1724 is now one of the first things that greets visitors at the Heinz History Center.

Two More Decades Down!

The end of the millennium was a period of steady progress and growth for the Arden Trolley Museum/Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, driven by a mix of volunteer effort and key funding. The collection expanded; facilities were improved; and significant plans were made to support the future of the Museum. This period marked a pivotal time in the museum’s history, setting the stage for even greater achievements down the line.

2024 is now coming to a close, and we have just a few more decades to look back on in honor of our 70th anniversary! (And don’t forget, as you wait for those final chapters, we invite you to watch Bruce Wells’ Trolleyology presentation if you haven’t already!)