Connecticut Trolley Museum, Electric railway museum in East Windsor, Connecticut.
The Connecticut Trolley Museum is a railway museum in East Windsor, Connecticut, that houses a collection of retired streetcars and interurban cars spanning several eras of American electric rail. Visitors can board and ride the cars on a short track that runs through the grounds, alongside indoor and outdoor display areas.
Founded in 1940, the museum is considered the first organization in the United States created specifically to preserve electric railway vehicles. It was established as the streetcar era was coming to an end across most American cities.
The collection includes cars from many different American cities, each with its own design and livery, making it easy to see how local transit looked across the country. Riding one of these cars on the original track gives a direct sense of how daily travel once felt.
The museum is open seasonally, generally from April through December, and the days it operates can vary depending on the time of year. It is worth checking the schedule in advance, as the site is not open every day.
The museum grounds also contain the Connecticut Fire Museum, which holds a collection of vintage fire trucks and firefighting equipment. A single visit to the site can cover two completely separate chapters of transportation history without moving to a different location.
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