We spent most of our time while we were at the Connecticut Trolley Museum (aka Warehouse Point) working on the truck swap - as it turned out we didn't even get a chance to take a ride down the line - but we did get to wander around a bit and see the museum. CTM was the first incorporated trolley museum in the nation, dating their founding to 1940, and is one of the big three trolley museums in New England. Its original collection was largely centered around the Connecticut Company but its collection has expanded and now includes a variety of equipment; over 20% of their collection is from the Midwest, in fact!
The centerpiece of the museum is their visitor's center, an enormous and attractive brick building housing a four-track display hall, entry hall, gift shop, movie theater, library and member's meeting room. The building surpasses anything built at IRM - it's of the quality of our diner annex but many times as large. Below, Randy Hicks sits in the display hall contemplating two of the gems of the CTM collection: the oldest existing two-truck steeplecab, an 1894 GE, and Springfield Terminal 10, a combine dating to 1901 that has been owned by CTM for over 60 years.
Below are a couple of the Midwestern cars in the CTM collection: at left, one of two surviving PCC cars from the Illinois Terminal (this car is operational and is due to receive cosmetic work soon); at right, the single-truck line car from Southern Iowa Utilities that was acquired by CTM from Trolleyville last year.
And then there's the object of our attention, CA&E 303. This car was acquired by CTM from Trolleyville as a representative of the type. It was partially backdated while at Trolleyville; the interior woodwork was beautifully restored to original appearance and a few other things were backdated, but by and large the car remains in modernized form with blocked-off upper sash windows and its toilet compartment removed. CTM has expressed an interest in authentically backdating the car over time. The 303 was built as part of the same order as our 308, so the photo at below right gives one an idea of what the 308 would have looked like inside as-built.
There are many other historic cars at CTM; like the other New England museums, they have a larger number of pre-1900 cars than IRM or the west coast museums have. Below left is an 1894 product of St. Louis Car Company, Brooklyn Rapid Transit 169. Below right is Springfield Terminal 16, a 1926 lightweight combine which is operational.
CTM has a great collection and a terrific volunteer corps, many of whom we met on our trip, who are working hard to preserve and restore the cars in their collection. Equipment like Springfield Terminal 16 and the Northern Ohio Traction & Light interurban parlor car "Northern" have received restorative attention, among many others, and while we were they were in the process of building track under a roofed section behind their visitor's center to protect more equipment from the weather. Warehouse Point is a museum not to be missed if you're in Connecticut!
