Trolley Museum Celebrates 50 Years

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There was a time when trolleys were Pittsburgh's prime source of transportation. Fifty years ago, volunteers in Washington, Pennsylvania, began preserving those symbols of the past.

Tuesday morning, a trolley car from generations past takes a new generation on a clickety-clack ride through history, on the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's 50th anniversary.

"Trolleys weigh anywhere from twenty to thirty tons, and the sway down the track," says executive director Scott Becker. "You get the sound and the feel of the car. So it's really a three dimensional experience."'

Art Ellis, a 93-year-old volunteer, does his part to keep things on track.

"Something needs to be painted, something needs a screw back in, that's my job," he says. "There are certain talents necessary to keep this museum going. Electrical skills mechanical skills, and we've been very fortunate having people with those skills show up in a position to volunteer."

The trolley museum has 50 different cars, one for each year.

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