Shore Line Trolley Museum, Branford (East Haven), CT

[aline1969]

Tom, you will see a Toronto Witt while u visit...just not in Boston.

[Mr rt]

Shoreline aka Branford is open Sat. & Sun. for the season now.
May 2nd & 3rd was Guest Operator/RT week-end.
I was the Dispatcher both days.
The NYC subway cars used were: R-17 6688 & LoV 5466.
Member's Day, the Saturday before, was a big success with many unique cars coming out.

[sixflagscoasters]

Did the MBTA Flyer #4037 arrive at the museum yet?

Do you have pictures of the move?

Thanks
-Bill

[Mr rt]

The MBTA Trackless has arrived shortly after it's fan trip in Cambridge, MA.
Branford has a small piece of O/H that it can go back & forth on, along with SEPTA 205 which is also functional.
The plan is to make a small loop arounf Barn #2.

[sixflagscoasters]

Thanks for the info.

Do you know if there is a track map of Shore Line Trolley Museum? At track map similar to the one posted on here for the Seashore Trolley Museum that some one has made.

I would like to see a layout map the shows the trolley routes, yards, barns, etc... and also the planed trackless trolley route if possible.


Thanks
-Bill

[polybalt]

Do you know if there is a track map of Shore Line Trolley Museum? At track map similar to the one posted on here for the Seashore Trolley Museum that some one has made.

I would like to see a layout map the shows the trolley routes, yards, barns, etc... and also the planed trackless trolley route if possible.

I put my map of Shoreline on my Flickr site at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polybalt/3629217375/

It is drawn to the same scale as the Seashore one, which is still in the same photo stream on Flickr.

I think Shoreline is one of the most interesting railway musuem sites in the country, running alongside a tidal estuary. The visitor boarding location is wonderful -- located right in the paved public roadway just like most streetcar stops were.

I recently read on this forum that the trolley bus line is planned to circle Barn 2.

Incidentally, the only Museum trolley bus line in the U.S. I know of that operates regularly is the one at the Illinois Railway Museum. It is on paved roadways and has a loop at one end and a wye at the other.

[sixflagscoasters]

Thanks for the info and link to the track map!

-Bill

[Mr rt]

Peter,
Nice map ... it looks very accurate too ... down to the "path" from Sprague to yard (accross the loop).
Yes, the trackless will go around barn #2.
Currently poles are going up to made the turn SE of #2, i.e. the line is live from #6 to that point.

[ebtmikado]

The correct name is SHORE LINE TROLLEY MUSEUM.

NOT Shoreline

[Mr rt]

Every March the Shoreline Trolley Museum runs a class for those who would like to learn how to operate a trolley car.
This year is no exception, but time is getting short to sign up.
Their web site is BERA.org, or call the office M-F 203-467-6927

This year 948 from Atlanta comes out of the shop & joins the operating fleet:
- 357 Johnstown
- 629 TARS
- 775 ConnCo (most likely)
- 850 New Orleans
- 1602 ConnCo
- 2001 Montreal

Plus on "RT" week-ends you'll get to ride several subway cars from NYC, and 1001, the 1st PCC to enter public service.

[ebtmikado]

Shore Line Trolley Museum is 4 words. An elected officer should know that.

[Mr rt]

We've just got past our first week-end of operation for the year.
It was also Guest Opr/RT week-end with R-17 6688 being the RT car,
bet you can guess who was the Dispatcher both days
Atlanta 948 is now out of the shop after an extensive overhaul & restoration.

If you have been to the museum before you'll find the deck chair rearanged
i.e. the displays have theams ... barn #1 the time of the PCC, includes 1st PCC in public service, a Brilliner, TARS 629, i.e. the company that couldn't afford a PCC so they did something else to refresh their fleet.
barn #3 the Connecticut Company, barn #5 (1st 2 cars out) rapid transit (a Interurban & a NYC LoV),
barn #4 (1st 2 cars our) working on the RxR (a rotary elect plow & a V plow from NJ Public Service),
barn #2 work in prograss (a couple of ConnCo cars being restored).

In a couple of weeks we'll be sponcering a antique auto show,
then Guest Opr week-end will be the 3rd one in June.

[Mr rt]

Last two Guest Operator Week-ends are Aug 20/21 & Sep 17/18.
The on-line reservation system lets you request a specific trolley/subway car.

In July we had three subway cars out both days (R-17 6688, LoV 5466, R-9 1689, El (wodden)1349)
PCC 1001 turns 75 & we're having a special event for this the 1st PCC put in public service.
It was a lot of work for the staff, but it pays the bills.

[Gerry6309]

Just wondering how Shore Line came through Irene. Hopefully she went far enough west to avoid serious damage. I love the Scenery but realize what it means when there is storm surge. Other than a lost day in late summer and a 12 hour electrical outage, Seashore fared pretty well.

[Mr rt]

Unfortunately Shore Line got hit rather hard.
If you sign onto our web site you can see the "Official Report".
If you can't e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll be happy to send you the text.