The Trolley Museum of New York is a non-profit organization located at 89 East Strand Street in Kingston, New York. The museum is open to the public on a seasonal schedule, but volunteer activities relating to the preservation of historic transit are year-round.
History The museum was founded in 1955 in Brooklyn to save some of the last trolley cars still in New York City. During the early years of the museum's existence, it had no permanent home. The growing collection of trolley and subway cars were stored in various locations, such as Staten Island and northern New Jersey. On a few occasions until the city took down the last of the overhead wire in the early 1960s, the museum operated a Swedish trolley car on McDonald Avenue, Brooklyn. The museum also held movie nights for members in a Peter Witt streetcar at St. George, Staten Island.
In 1983 the museum finally found a permanent home in Kingston, occupying the abandoned Rondout shops area, MP 1, of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D). As a condition of the museum's charter with the city of Kingston, the museum had to immediately begin public operations. At the time, everything in the museum collection was electric powered and the U&D tracks were not equipped for electric operation. The museum acquired a Doodlebug (a former Sperry Rail Service car) from Connecticut and began public operation on July 4, 1983. At first, less than a mile of track was usable, but within two years the run was extended to Kingston Point to provide scenic views of the Hudson River. In 2000 the museum began operating a trolley from Johnstown, Pennsylvania after a nine-year restoration.
The museum leases the yard and about 1.5 miles of right of way and track from the City of Kingston. This includes the former U&D main line from Kingston Point, MP 0, to about MP 1.1, plus a spur track that runs from the yard along Ferry Street to T. R. Gallo Park at Rondout Landing. The Museum operates on a seasonal schedule on weekends and holidays.
Equipment The Trolley Museum of NY has numerous notable items in their collection. +Rapid Transit CarsNameClassImagesManufacturerYear built StatusNotesIRT Lines 5600Standard Lo-V (New York City Subway car)N/AACF1916-1925Awaiting restorationOldest rapid transit car in the collectionBMT Lines 1602AQ-TypeN/AView page1938Awaiting restorationN/AIndependent Subway System 825R4N/AACF1933Awaiting restorationN/ABMT Lines 6398R16ACF1955On displayFeatures blue doorsSEPTA 618M-3 (Market Frankford El) Budd1960On displayDonated from the Seashore Trolley Museum PATH 143PA-1St. Louis1964On displaySurvived the collapse of the World Trade Center complex on September 11, 2001MARTA 510 CQ310 (Single unit)Société Franco-Belge1978-1979On display
+Trollies/InterurbanNameClassImagesManufacturerYear built StatusNotesBrussels Tram 1504"Brussels Standard" carsN/AN/AOn displayOslo Tram 3N/AN/A1897On displayOn display at T.R. Gallo ParkGothenburg Tram 69N/AN/AASEA1912On displayOn display at T.R. Gallo ParkJohnstown Traction Company 358N/ASt. Louis1925OperationalMost used for excursionsBrooklyn and Queens Transit 1000PCC (Air electric)N/AClark Equipment Co.1936On displayOnly PCC built by ClarkMBTA 3204PCC streetcarN/A1946On displayOnly piece of MBTA equipment at the museumHamburg Tram 3584V6EN/ALinke-Hoffman-Busch1952On display+LocomotivesNameClassImagesManufacturerYear built StatusNotesWhitcomb 965 TonnerWhitcomb1943OperationalBuilt for the US Army
This museum also has three RTS type buses.
References
External links Trolley Museum of New York