Pennsylvania Trolley Museum adds a 1932 vintage trolley to its collection
Washington, PA — The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) is pleased to announce that on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, it acquired Red Arrow #83, a suburban streetcar that connected Philadelphia to its western suburbs. This trolley was built in 1932 by the J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia for the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company (P&WCT Co). This car, known as an “80 car” was built mostly out of aluminum to save weight and had very comfortable seats in the company’s attempt to attract riders away from their automobiles.
The trolley ran from the company’s 69th Street Terminal in Philadelphia to West Chester, Media, Sharon Hill and Ardmore. P&WCT Co. was owned by the Taylor Family who later rebranded their system with the Red Arrow Lines as part of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co (PST Co). PST was sold to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1970, and SEPTA operated the car until 1982. It was briefly renumbered #86 toward the end of its service life.
All told, 83 faithfully carried passengers for fifty (50) years before being sold in 1982 to Wendell Dillinger, then President of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad (M&H RR). The M&H RR, based in Middletown, PA, operates freight and popular excursion trains (mhrailroad.com) and has preserved #83 since then. We thank the M&H RR for their cooperation in making this historic trolley car available to us and making other trolley parts available that will help us restore other cars in our collection! The car was delivered to the Museum by Cicko Transportation in Coraopolis.
PTM has sister car #78 that has been operated since 1994 after its restoration back to its original 1932 appearance. Scott Becker, PTM’s Executive Director & CEO said “to be able to acquire a complete 1932 trolley that fits our broad-gauge track in this day and age is quite remarkable.” Car #83 will eventually be restored to operation in a paint scheme used in the latter years of its long service life.
Our thanks to Cicko Transportation (cickotransportation.com) for moving the car from Middletown to PTM, and also to Chartiers Township Police Department for providing escort.
PTM also acquired SEPTA PCC Car 2725 to provide spare parts to restore and maintain two Philadelphia cars already in our collection. We are storing SEPTA PCC 2095 for another group who purchased the car.