Join PTM staff, volunteers, and members for our Zoom series, Trolleyology! These programs feature Pennsylvania transit history topics and tales of our collection that you can experience from home. Registration is required but free of charge. Donations are welcome and encouraged.
October 29, 2024 – 7 PM ET – Presented by Harvey Laner
RUNTIME: 105 Minutes.
At its peak, West Penn Railways had 237 miles of electric railway trackage. It operated in the well populated coal mining and coking region of rugged, mountainous western Pennsylvania. West Penn Railways was a vibrant transportation system playing a key role in the pre automobile, unpaved, poor road era, and was an important factor in the Coking region’s economy.
This program combines Harvey Laner’s West Penn Railways video files of railfans Ed Miller and Gene Schmidt’s movies with Harvey’s conversational narration with West Penn Railways historian Ed Lybarger. Ed meticulously describes the route as Ed Millers’ movies take us from Uniontown to Greensburg. Ed Lybarger details West Penn’s LCL freight service, an in-depth description of the Company’s passenger and work car equipment, a whimsical look at West Penn’s creative advertising program and an overview of the management people that guided the Company through the good and the difficult years.
This complete story of West Penn Railways includes a look at the web of public utilities that connect it to West Virginia’s Monongahela & West Penn and Wheeling Traction Company properties as well as the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway in Maryland. Historic movie scenes of those traction properties are also included in this far reaching, comprehensive program.
NOTE: This program will NOT be recorded and will NOT available at a later date on the PTM YouTube channel.
Trolleyology presentations will continue on a regular or semi-regular basis. Interested in presenting? Email Kristen at kfred@patrolley.org! We’re specifically looking for programs related to the Trolley Era in general, Pennsylvania transit history, or stories about our collection. Please join our e-mail list to stay up-to-date with program announcements and other PTM news!
*For the best experience, we recommend downloading Zoom in advance.
NOTE: This is a virtual event
