News
Apr 22 2010
Museum refurbishing former city trolley
As cities like Johnstown began phasing out electric streetcars in the late 1950s, some trolley afficionados in nearby Huntingdon County decided to preserve that piece of Americana.
The group was able to obtain one of Johnstown’s remaining 27 trolley cars, which began carrying tourists in 1960 over tracks at the new Rockhill Trolley Museum near Orbisonia.
Johnstown Traction Co. Car 311 continued to carry visitors back in time for more than 40 years at Rockhill before it was sidelined for repairs in 2003.
Now museum operators are asking for help to put the piece of local history back in service.
Although about $50,000 has been put into a restoration, additional problems were discovered that pushed the total cost to around $75,000, said Joel Salomon, museum president.
“We are hoping that there would be some individuals in Johnstown to help us with this project,” Salomon said. “This is a major part of the rehabilitation of the car and unfortunately there have been cost overruns.”
The restoration project started with a simple plan to repair the trolley’s roof, Salomon said. The old canvas top was leaking, so museum staff realized they would also need to replace some roof hardware.
“Like any old car or old house project, things just got more complicated once we took the canvas off,” Salomon said.
If the roof was bad, the undercarriage was worse, he said. Many parts of the running gear and motors were in poor shape and are being repaired at Lyon’s Electric Motor Co. in Ebensburg.
A worker at Lyon’s said upgrading 80-year-old machinery is a challenge.
“We pretty much have to reverse engineer and make any parts that are needed,” he said.
While Car 311 is a piece of nostalgia for many Johnstown residents, it has also become close to the heart of the Rockhill Museum’s volunteers, Salomon said.
“Trolley car 311 was the first trolley to be preserved at our museum and left Johnstown in October of 1960,” he said. “We have operated the car longer at our museum than it had operated in Johnstown.”
Car 311 is the second Johnstown trolley refurbished at Lyon’s for Rockhill.
The company was the prime contractor rebuilding Car 355 in 2007.
It was also was one of Johnstown’s last trolleys, but instead of transferring directly to Rockhill, Car 355 was sidetracked through New England and endured some neglect while ferrying tourists at a New Hampshire resort.
The museum bought the trolley, but it took 35 years and a $270,000 federal transportation enhancement grant to get it back on the tracks.
Information about donating to the restoration is available at the museum Web site, www.rockhilltrolley.org. The museum, located off Route 522 about 20 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Fort Littleton exit, will reopen for the season June 5. Volunteer opportunities are available, Salomon said.
“Perhaps some readers in Johnstown would be interested in helping our museum with their efforts and join our museum, become a volunteer and have the opportunity to learn to operate a real Johnstown electric trolley car,” he said.
The group was able to obtain one of Johnstown’s remaining 27 trolley cars, which began carrying tourists in 1960 over tracks at the new Rockhill Trolley Museum near Orbisonia.
Johnstown Traction Co. Car 311 continued to carry visitors back in time for more than 40 years at Rockhill before it was sidelined for repairs in 2003.
Now museum operators are asking for help to put the piece of local history back in service.
Although about $50,000 has been put into a restoration, additional problems were discovered that pushed the total cost to around $75,000, said Joel Salomon, museum president.
“We are hoping that there would be some individuals in Johnstown to help us with this project,” Salomon said. “This is a major part of the rehabilitation of the car and unfortunately there have been cost overruns.”
The restoration project started with a simple plan to repair the trolley’s roof, Salomon said. The old canvas top was leaking, so museum staff realized they would also need to replace some roof hardware.
“Like any old car or old house project, things just got more complicated once we took the canvas off,” Salomon said.
If the roof was bad, the undercarriage was worse, he said. Many parts of the running gear and motors were in poor shape and are being repaired at Lyon’s Electric Motor Co. in Ebensburg.
A worker at Lyon’s said upgrading 80-year-old machinery is a challenge.
“We pretty much have to reverse engineer and make any parts that are needed,” he said.
While Car 311 is a piece of nostalgia for many Johnstown residents, it has also become close to the heart of the Rockhill Museum’s volunteers, Salomon said.
“Trolley car 311 was the first trolley to be preserved at our museum and left Johnstown in October of 1960,” he said. “We have operated the car longer at our museum than it had operated in Johnstown.”
Car 311 is the second Johnstown trolley refurbished at Lyon’s for Rockhill.
The company was the prime contractor rebuilding Car 355 in 2007.
It was also was one of Johnstown’s last trolleys, but instead of transferring directly to Rockhill, Car 355 was sidetracked through New England and endured some neglect while ferrying tourists at a New Hampshire resort.
The museum bought the trolley, but it took 35 years and a $270,000 federal transportation enhancement grant to get it back on the tracks.
Information about donating to the restoration is available at the museum Web site, www.rockhilltrolley.org. The museum, located off Route 522 about 20 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Fort Littleton exit, will reopen for the season June 5. Volunteer opportunities are available, Salomon said.
“Perhaps some readers in Johnstown would be interested in helping our museum with their efforts and join our museum, become a volunteer and have the opportunity to learn to operate a real Johnstown electric trolley car,” he said.
