Connecticut Trolley Museum, Warehouse Point, CT

Clarification: the Warehouse Point Trolley Musuem which became the CT Trolley Musuem was the offspring of the CT Valley NRHS until the two separated and are now trying to work together again.

3rd Rail,

"The thrill is gone" ... more then that is gone ...
The folks who came for the thrill are gone, planted 6' under
Steam is still a big draw for kids, so dad will bring the family.
Other museums that cater to mass transportation (trolleys, subways, diesels, buses) don't have a big enough fan base to pay the bills, so they all have to come up with "entertainment" events that have a ride as a side benifit,
e.g. add a old car show, Easter eggs, Halloween, Punkins, Christmas, or Thomas (not for the small museum because the Thomas folks have a lot of requirements before they'll come).

BTW, I was at the other trolley museum in CT this week-end ... mostly doing restoration work, but also operated a couple of trolleys & a PCC, i.e. I was the "Guest Operator" pilot.

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that our website has been updated in more ways than one. Check us out, we'd appreciate the feedback!
http://www.ct-trolley.org

Matt

Very nice ! Looking forward to coming down !

When you look at the idea of a museum, you need to look beyond the idea of just saving the artifact. For example, in a trolley museum, you DONT just save trolleys. A museum needs to not only show the artifact, but its Impact on Society. In that way, a steam train fits into the trolley museum idea. Trolleys would meet the steam train for passengers and freight (the New Haven Railroad with its ConnCo division). ConnCo transported passengers through the area that were brought in by the New Haven. Also, Springfield Terminal met the Boston & Maine and brought passengers and freight to the town of Springfield, VT. The steam equipment was sold off, however, in the late 1990s because the steam department had dwindled to nothing. If there was no steam department, then it made sense to use that valuable interior space for trolleys.

Just a clarification from an earlier post in this forum...Springfield 16 is a steel bodied car, Springfield 10 is the wooden car.

Also, the diesels at the Point are support vehicles. They are not part of the collection. They are used for moving trolleys where there is no overhead wire as well as rescue vehicles if a trolley should break down.

citystation1848 wrote:Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that our website has been updated in more ways than one. Check us out, we'd appreciate the feedback!
http://www.ct-trolley.org

Matt

Another stellar site, Matt! Looks great.

octr202 wrote:

citystation1848 wrote:Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that our website has been updated in more ways than one. Check us out, we'd appreciate the feedback!
http://www.ct-trolley.org

Matt

Another stellar site, Matt! Looks great.

What he said.

Now I need to update my own website with the car information that's now available.

So do you guys run to Piney Ridge Park, or is this something that no longer exists?

http://www.ct-trolley.org/museum/pineyridge.php

-otto-

IIRC, The CTM owns the ROW and property to Piney Ridge but the actual trackage in place falls short of the destination. The mission is to reach PR and develop/restore the (trolley) park.

Anyone have a map that they could post that shows existing track, the museum, and Piney Ridge ?

Only map I have ever seen was a proposal document that showed the CTM's mission for the future. It was on a previous version of their website. I am under the impression that the webmaster who maintained it (Joe?) is no longer with them since those pages are gone and I have not seen his name mentioned. It's too bad, there was a lot of neat stuff on that version.


The new site that Matt did is really nice and much needed.

There's a map of the Museum owned section of the Hartford & Springfield on the Museum History page. It came straight from the old website and I refreshed and updated it.

Is there anything else from the old website you want to see on the new site? I can get my hands on most, if not all the old information.

Otto, thanks for your question about the park, I'll clarify it on that page.

Thanks for the kudos on the site redesign.

Matt

What I liked about the old page:

Vintage CTM - Pictures submitted by various parties.

"Photo of the month" - Vintage trolley / fire truck pictures

In the Members Only area there was a data / history section for most of the collection.

I realize of course, that all of the above takes quite a bit of time to prepare and even more time to put on a website and maintain. It's quite an effort.

They were nice touches.

The new page is very nice and was very much needed. Hopefully it will grow : )

citystation1848 wrote:Otto, thanks for your question about the park, I'll clarify it on that page.

Thanks, I think that will make it much clearer!

-otto-

RonM wrote:IIRC, The CTM owns the ROW and property to Piney Ridge but the actual trackage in place falls short of the destination. The mission is to reach PR and develop/restore the (trolley) park.

What is the distance beyond the point they now stop just short of the road?