| The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington PA is a
time-machine all its own. From when you get out of your car in
the gravel lot to when you leave, it's like you're in the 1940s or
1950s.
Trolley # 5326 (above), built
over 80 years ago in 1923, ran in West Philadelphia until
1957.
The westbound trolley tracks and
turn-around look like they did fifty years ago--and I'll be you
can't name one Class I railroad with tracks that look that
good!
Looking in the trolley barn, you see
maintenance going on like a day out of the 1940s...starting with a trolley parked over
a workpit getting a new set of brakes...
...to a diesel locomotive, used to
retrieve impaired electrical trolleys off the line, undergoing a
complete piece by piece overhaul...
...to a ballast dumping self-propelled
maintenance of way trolley ready to go drop another load of rip-rap
stone along the right-of-way.
I'd like to say a special thanks to
David who, while working on restoring "Ugly", the diesel
locomotive, answered a lot of questions for me on trolleys and
trolley restoration. Also, Jack and Nick on the loading
platform made me feel right at home. The
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is one of the few railroad museums I've
been to where the railfan visitor is accepted as an equal; not a
paid ticket at the door! | 
