Connecticut Trolley Museum
The Connecticut Trolley Museum is the oldest registered electric tram museum in the United States . It was founded in 1940. The museum is located in East Windsor , Connecticut and is open April through December. The exhibition includes both individual cars and driving demonstrations and also offers guided tours. The Connecticut Fire Museum , which shows fire fighting equipment and emergency vehicles, is housed in the same area . This was opened in 1975.
Heritage Railroad
The museum maintains a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long Heritage Railroad on the former Hartford Springfield Street Railway Company (Rockville Branch) line. The Rockville Branch line began at Main Fish Market and ran 17.5 mi (28.2 km) to Rockville , Connecticut. The line carried workers, schoolchildren, but also some tourists. The Interurban Cars took shorter distances and could carry more people than the few buses at the time. The line also stopped at Piney Ridge , an amusement park between Broad Brook and East Windsor . Most rail companies set up amusement parks like Piney Ridge to generate income for the day no-one had to go to work, Sunday. In Piney Ridge , there was a large organ, a dance floor on springs tram car and a baseball field . Unfortunately, the railway was shut down when Hartford and Springfield ran into financial difficulties. The tram wagons were brought to Piney Ridge and scrapped. In 1926 the route disappeared.
14 years later, the Connecticut Electric Railway Association was formed and began providing driving services. Today, several trips a day are offered on the remains of the historic route.
Exhibits
The following functional cars are operated on the route:
- Montreal Tramways Car (4 & 2600)
- Springfield Terminal , Combine Car 16
- Illinois Terminal Railroad , PCC Car 451
- New Orleans Public Service , Car 836
- Fair Haven and Westville Railroad, Car 355
- Boston Elevated Railway , Type 5 Car 5645
- Connecticut Company, Car 1326
- Connecticut Company, Car 3001
- Nassau (New York) Electric Railway, Car 169
In the main hall an exhibition explains the developments of the time and the influence of the trams on society. In the visitor center there are also some cars that are no longer in operation:
- Northern Ohio Traction and Light , Parlor Car 1500
- Springfield Electric Railway combine, Car 10
- Five Mile Beach Electric Railway , Car 36
- Ponemah Mills Locomotive 1386
- Shaker Heights Rapid Transit, Car 1201
- Connecticut Company, Car 65
- Montreal Tramways, Car 2056
- Fair Haven and Westville, Car 154
- Fire Museum
- REO pumper, Lost Acres (Granby) Fire Department, 1923
- American LaFrance pumper, Hartsdale, New York, 1926
- Mack pumper, Willimantic and West Willington, 1927
- American LaFrance, Hartford, 1928
- Ahrens-Fox pumper, Auburn, Maine, 1929
- Maxim hose wagon, Gilford, Wallingford, Meriden and Torrington, 1930
- GMC / LaFrance pumper, Bloomfield, 1931
- Seagrave 85 'aerial ladder truck, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1934
- Mack pumper, West Springfield, Mass. and North Thompsonville, 1936
- Ahrens-Fox pumper, Stafford Springs, 1937
- Ford / LaFrance pumper, New Hartford, 1941
- GMC / Sealand airport crash truck, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft East Hartford plant and Brainard Airport, Hartford, 1942
- Seagrave pumper, Jewett City and United Nuclear Montville, 1945
- Mack pumper, Hingham, Massachusetts, 1947
- American-LaFrance 75 'aerial ladder truck, East Hartford, and Warehouse Point, 1948
- Walter airport crash truck, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, East Hartford, 1967
- American-LaFrance pumper, Ellington, 1975
- GMC airport crash truck, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft East Hartford, 1983
address
58 North Road
East Windsor, Connecticut
Individual evidence
Web links
- Connecticut Trolley Museum
- Connecticut Fire Museum , with pictures from the exhibition
Coordinates: 41 ° 55 ′ 53 " N , 72 ° 35 ′ 41" W.