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Trolley Museum of New York

Coordinates: 41°55′13.11″N 73°58′47.88″W / 41.9203083°N 73.9799667°W / 41.9203083; -73.9799667
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Trolley Museum of New York
Gallo Park-Broadway
US 9W (NY).svg
US 9W
Frank Koenig Blvd
East Strand west crossing
Trolley Museum
car barn
1.0
yard
East Strand east crossing
North Street crossing
lagoon spur
causeway
0.0
Kingston Point Park

41°55′13.11″N 73°58′47.88″W / 41.9203083°N 73.9799667°W / 41.9203083; -73.9799667 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

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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.

The railroad yard at Rondout.

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.

Collection

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Notable items in the collection:

The museum recently added a number of retired transit buses to the collection, including 2 RTSs.

References

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  1. ^ Paula Ann Mitchell (September 24, 2013). "Kingston-based trolley car gets NY historic designation". Daily Freeman. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  2. ^ "PATH Train Cars That Survived 9/11 on Display in Connecticut, New York Trolley Museums". December 4, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Tourret, R. (1977). United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives. Tourret Publishing. ISBN 9780905878010.
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