Trolley Fest

Visitors will be able to ride the historic Trolley No. 10, the pump car, the restored Central Vermont caboose, and enjoy speeder and velocipede rides.

In 1897, the Wason Manufacturing Co. of Springfield, MA manufactured and sent to the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway Co. a new state-of-the-art trolley that featured electric lights and heaters.

This first car spent 20 years crossing the Deerfield River on what is now the Bridge of Flowers, traveling to Colrain and back until 1928.
When the company failed in 1928, all assets but No. 10 were sold for scrap. The Johnson family of Colrain moved No. 10 to their farm, where it served as a chicken coop, tool shed, and other uses for the next 65 years.

Marshall Johnson donated the trolley to the new museum and, after a complete restoration, No. 10 was returned to service on Oct. 9, 1999.

The celebration will include trains for youngsters to play with and music and lunch will be available.

Copies of the The Little Yellow Trolley, the story of No. 10, written by volunteer Marie Betts Bartlett, will be available as well as The Tired Telegrapher’s Terribly Tall Traveler’s Tale, written by museum volunteer Alden Dreyer.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. visit numerous hands-on demonstrations, play games from the 1900s, and view railroad-themed movies. Local products will be for sale and antique farm tools will be on display.

For more information, visit sftm.org.