In Focus: Restoring history

Penn­syl­va­nia Trol­ley Mu­seum in Chart­iers, Wash­ing­ton County, houses early 20th cen­tury pub­lic trans­por­ta­tion that need tender lov­ing care.

Ev­ery­body vis­it­ing on the week­end sees the charm­ing uni­formed op­er­a­tors and gift shop work­ers. But dur­ing the week is when the magic hap­pens, and it’s dirty work. There’s a con­stantly evolv­ing list of which trol­ley needs what main­te­nance and when. If a part needs to be re­placed, they just can’t or­der one from a cat­a­log. There are no trol­ley parts stores. The needed part must be sal­vaged, adapted or cre­ated.

Former West Penn Rail­ways No. 832 plied the com­pany’s Val­ley Lines from New Kens­ing­ton to Aspin­wall un­til the 1936 flood wreaked havoc on the line, push­ing ser­vice into ex­tinc­tion. The car was trans­ferred to the West Penn lines in West­more­land and Fay­ette coun­ties, where its ser­vice life ended.

It has been un­der res­tora­tion for sev­eral years. The body has been rec­re­ated and painted in the dis­tinc­tive West Penn or­ange. Match­ing color for his­tor­i­cal ac­cu­racy is im­por­tant. For you Pitts­burgh Rail­ways Co. fans, those PPC cars that closed out the com­pany’s ser­vice aren’t just red and crème. They’re Moun­tain Ash Scar­lett and Pi­ca­dor Creme, thank you. You can find pris­tine res­tora­tions of the trol­ley your grand­par­ents rode to Down­town at this mu­seum.

The Penn­syl­va­nia Trol­ley Mu­seum is at 1 Mu­seum Road, just off North Main Street in Chart­iers, across from the Washington County Fair­grounds. It is open Fri­days, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Satur­days and Sun­days, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Santa trol­ley rides are Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 15. 724-228-9256. www.pa­trol­ley.org.