History
The origin of the museum can be traced to a group of electric railway enthusiasts who acquired Pittsburgh Railways Company M-1, a small four wheel Pittsburgh trolley in 1949. It and Pittsburgh Railways Company 3756, a single end lowfloor and West Penn Curveside 832 were stored for them in Ingram Carhouse by Pittsburgh Railways until 1954. In 1953 the Pittsburgh Railways Interurban line from Pittsburgh to Washington was abandoned and the newly formed Pittsburgh Electric Railway Club bought 2,000 feet (610 m) of the line next to the old County Home trolley stop north of Washington in Chartiers Township, Pennsylvania. On February 7, 1954 the three trolleys stored in Pittsburgh were run to the museum site from Pittsburgh under their own power shortly before the line was removed. They were followed by Pittsburgh Railways Company 4398, a double ended lowfloor car which then returned the museum members back to Pittsburgh, forming the last passenger service on the line.
Following a period of restoration and rebuilding the Arden Trolley Museum opened to the public in June 1963.
In 2012, the museum adopted a cat, called Frank the Trolley Cat, after Frank J. Sprague, the inventor of the trolley wheel.
Read more about this topic: Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
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