Rockhill Trolley Museum

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.