28. April 2025
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Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
4.8

Rating

 4.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice range of historic trolleys
  • Lovely staff
  • Trolley rides on two different routes

I like public transport of all kinds. Thus, I was really happy that I finally made it to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum during my February 2025 to my ice hockey “home town” Pittsburgh. Using the slogan History that connects us, the museum does not only display historic trams, it also offers you to have a ride with some of them. Here is my review.

 

 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum – Location & Admission

The museum is located North of the city of Washington in Pennsylvania. From Downtown Pittsburgh, it is roughly a 30 minute of 25 mile drive. After you left the I-75, it is roughly a 2.5 mile drive. The directions are given. There is a public metro bus from Pittsburgh to Washington. However, it is just of limited use when visiting the museum (walking distance from the closest bus stop is about one mile).

The museum is open from 10:00 to 16:00. The last trolley rides start at 15:00. Opening days are Tuesday to Sunday from June to August. In the remaining months, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is open from Thursday to Sunday. If you want to visit the museum in winter, you might check their social media beforehand, as weather conditions may limit trolley operations. Adult admission is 20 USD.

 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum – The Museum

The museum has two major exhibition spaces. The first one is right inside the reception building. It majorly features interactive displays, which are very popular among younger visitors (even though some of the displays are rather complex). For example, you learn about how to dispatch trolley / rail traffic or can sit inside a trolley driver simulator. On the opposite side of the building, there are some original items, displays and background information about trolley historic in Pennsylvania. A smaller part of the exhibition is a former station building, where you can additionally explore how trolley rides defined transportation in the US-American state.

Historic Trolleys

The rolling stock is located in a depot building behind the main building. The museum, which has been founded in 1954, nowadays owns a collection of 54 cars. The trolleys are well documented. Most of them reflect trolleys which in fact operated in Pennsylvania. There are a few cars from other locations, e.g. a trolley which operated in Cincinnati. I would estimate that you can enter roughly one half of the exhibits and explore them. I especially loved how well the interior of the cars has been restored and maintained. Especially the advertisement banners are really cool, as they reflect the culture at that time. Quite some of them are original, others are re-printed and reflect original ads. There are also some special trolleys, like a luxurious saloon trolley with own kitchen and bathrooms. You also learn that these types of rail were partially used for comparably long distances.

There are also some more modern exhibits, like a former SEPTA car, which operated in the Greater Philadelphia region. Special vehicles include maintenance trolleys, like snow plows, cranes or luggage / cargo trolleys.

 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum – Trolley Rides

Your admission to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum includes unlimited trolley rides during that day. There are two routes which are served by the museum, each of them starting once per hour. Unfortunately, the reception desk mixed up the schedule (and feels to do that quite frequently). Thus, I mixed up the tours a bit during my visit. The first one I finally took was the shorter route, which is roughly fifteen minutes and thus very suitable for families as well. The downside is, obviously, that it is hardly leaving the exhibition space at all and rather takes a short circle around the premises. If you are majorly interested in the trolley and riding it, this is a nice choice as well. Both trips were very well organized and driven and also felt to have a high level of care for potential safety issues. There is a driver and a conductor, who is also operating as a guide and gives you some very helpful information.

The area around the museum is not the most picturesque one (at least in February…). Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the long ride. It is a loop, i.e. you take more or less the same route forth and back. From the museum, it heads into Southwest direction, passing a depot of the museum. From there, it heads North along a small creek, where there is a small loop and you head back to the museum. There were some technical difficulties of keeping electric energy supply, especially at switches, but the trip was really enjoyable as well.

 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum – Services

Apart from the incorrect information about the trolley ride schedule, the staff was really nice and friendly. I had a couple of longer chats with some of the volunteers. The museum is driving a souvenir store next to the reception / entrance area.

 

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum – My View

I really loved visiting the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. The range of exhibits is really nice, the staff is amazing. The key part of your visit is obviously riding the trolleys. I really enjoyed these and finally spent much more time there than I expected. If you are in Pittsburgh, I recommend to go for the half an hour drive – you might even stop at the outlet mall across the interstate thereafter.

 

Rail-Related Museums

Here are all my museum reviews, which are related to my Rides on Rail category:

 

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