Rockhill Trolley Museum To Acquire Two Historic Trolley Cars

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Railways To Yesterday Inc, operators of the Rockhill Trolley Museum of Rockhill Furnace, PA, is acquiring two historic electric trolley car bodies from the collection of the late Wendell J. Dillinger at the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad in Middletown, PA. The museum plans to restore and operate one of the cars while preserving the other as an exhibit.

Lewistown & Reedsville Electric Railway car 23 – Car 23 was built by the J.G. Brill Company in 1914 for Jersey Central Traction Company and one year later purchased by the Lewistown & Reedsville Electric Railway (L&R). The L&R operated approximately 12 miles of track between Lewistown, Burnham, Yeagertown, and Reedsville. Following abandonment of trolley operations in 1933, car 23 survived as a summer cottage near Lewistown from 1933 to 2002.

This will be the second fully restored trolley car at the museum to have been transformed from a trolley to a cottage and returned to an operating trolley. Having originally operated in revenue service less than 40 miles from the museum, car 23 will be the most local car in the collection.

York Railways car 162 – Car 162 was built by the J.G. Brill Company in 1924 for York Railways. Following the abandonment of trolley operations in 1939, both cars 162 and 163 survived together as summer cottages until flooded in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes. With car 163 already restored and operating at the museum since 1989, car 162 will be preserved as a cottage. This will help educate visitors and tell the story of how trolley car bodies often led a second life after no longer serving the need as public transportation.

More information is available in the full Press Release:

Lewistown & Reedsville Car 23 and York Railways Car 162 Press Release

To donate to the Relocation and Restoration Funds for these two new acquisitions, go to our Donations page. or download this flyer to send us a check by mail:

Middletown Cars Fundraiser Flyer

Thank you!

‘Tis the Season for Scranton Sweeper #107!

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For all you snow lovers, Rockhill Trolley Museum received measurable snow! That brought some museum volunteers to campus for one big reason: The chance to run Scranton Snow Sweeper #107 and its brushes for their intended use!

for what you’ve all been wanting to see!

Credit to Shannon Cunningham Turner

Trolley and Railroad Heritage Authors to Visit During Fall Spectacular

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Come see special guests Beth Anne Keates, co-author with Kenneth C. Springirth of Union Pacific Railroad Heritage and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Heritage (released in Spring 2023), at the Rockhill Trolley Museum Fall Spectacular, Saturday October 7th, beginning at 10 AM.

Let’s hear from Ms. Keates:

Our newest book, Viewing Norfolk Southern Railway, is due out in November 2023. My interest in Railroads/Trolleys and the Transportation industry spans over 50 years. As a student at Media-Providence Friends School, I was given the opportunity to take SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) trolleys to and from school. This was during the transition to the currently running SEPTA Kawasaki trolleys on the Media line from the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company’s various trolleys. As a student of rail transportation, I have studied and learned about the current mainline railroads in the United States over many years. I was the onsite editor for Ken’s book on the West Chester Railroad. I am the Vice Regent of the Lansdowne Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a past State Officer. I am a Proud Penn State Graduate. My father, Donald P. van Krieken, fostered my interest in learning about trains as a child. My mother inspired my love of history and genealogy. I have two grown sons. Jacob, my oldest, works for J.C. McHugh Locomotives as a train diesel mechanic, and my youngest son, Andrew, is a photographer and rail photo enthusiast, with his own YouTube channel Steel & Steam Productions. My husband of over 37 years, Brian, is our lead photographer, and we often go out together for the research and best photos for our books. I am also a photographer and enjoy researching the rail history/genealogy of the areas that we visit.

Ken Springirth, the author of over 40 books on trolleys and trains, including his book East Broad Top Railroad, which includes Rockhill Trolley Museum content. His extensive number of books includes The Rebirth of North America’s Streetcar Heritage, Trolleys in Philadelphia, Trolleys of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Trolley Heritage, New Jersey’s Trolley Heritage, Toronto Streetcars, Johnstown Trolleys, and books about the following cities’ trolleys: Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. His railroads books include Remembering the Pennsylvania Railroad, Honoring the New York Central Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railroad Heritage, CSX Transportation Rail Heritage, Reading Railroad, and a unique children’s book ABC’s on the Rails. Ken’s father was a motorman in Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a motorman in Washington DC. Ken traveled to work and college by trolley, graduating from the then Drexel Institute of Technology. Ken newest book, Trolleys/Trams & Light Rail around the World debuts soon.

The Keates & Springirth Families live in diagonal corners of Pennsylvania, the Keates family in West Chester and the Springirth Family in Erie. It takes a special type of cooperation and coordination to actively write and market books about the genealogy of transportation on steel rails.

Ms. Keates continues:

However, Ken & I both grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, attended the same elementary school-Ardmore Avenue and same church, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, albeit in different years. This bond of growing up in a small town on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and our varied backgrounds has enabled us the unique opportunity to write across the ages and capture the history of phenomenal rail transportation. We will be bringing over 40 rail heritage books to this event.

This is your unique opportunity to meet two authors who have a put out a variety of books on rail history that brings hope to the fact that the railroads have a good future around the world including the United States of America. Interest in Heritage Railroads and Trolleys grows like a tree, putting roots down and immersing in the landscapes that are created around them.